


The Gauntlet

by asingerofsongs, MayGlenn



Series: Stars and Skies [14]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Anal Sex, Anxiety, Bad Cooking, Cooking, Edgeplay, Exams, F/M, Finn Becomes an Officer, Finn Needs A Hug, Finn Sandwich, Finn is the Resistance, Fluff and Angst and Smut, Jess is a Hero, M/M, Multi, Oral Sex, PTSD RECOVERY, Poe and Rey Spoil Their Boyfriend, R2 Has A Potty Mouth, Stormtrooper Rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-21 14:24:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7390798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asingerofsongs/pseuds/asingerofsongs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayGlenn/pseuds/MayGlenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Ever since you came to us, Finn, and because of these other defecting stormtroopers we keep hearing about, you are more than one man. You are more than your own life. You are more, even, than the happiness and stability of my best pilot and the penultimate Jedi. You are a resistance in and of yourself, Finn. I would kill to have you in the field, on active duty. We’d be combing defecting ‘troopers out of our hair with every single mission if you were in the field. But if we lost you, Finn, we would lose that beacon. The stormtroopers like you would lose that beacon. You are my greatest weapon against the First Order, Finn, and I haven’t told you this before now because I didn’t want to rush you. I still don’t want to rush you.” </p><p>Leia held his gaze and then sat again. “You will never stop being a brave young man whom I have grown to love—you will never stop being an individual who is important to me as a person. But you are also more, and bigger than yourself. I want you to be an officer more than you want to be one, if you can believe it.” Then Leia smiled. “If I get to make you an officer and get you in the field, Finn, six months to stop the First Order sounds absolutely doable to me.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There were a number of things to be done before the wedding—plans to be made, Poe's family to contact, best men (or women, or Wookiees) to choose, and a million other tiny details that Finn and Rey were convinced Poe was inventing half the time just to watch smoke pour out their ears (“Those two tablecloths are _exactly_ the same color, Poe, I really could not care less which one you choose!”).

Also, they had to destroy the First Order.

Finn had had enough of them ruining things, and he was certain that if they were allowed to continue existing, they'd certainly ruin the wedding. There were rumors of more stormtroopers trying to defect, but they never saw or heard from any of them—Finn assumed this was because they'd been caught, and he felt responsible every time he heard about another one.

What was left of the Republic after Hosnia was still wringing their hands about the catastrophe and focused more on rebuilding their government than fighting back—hundreds of planets and systems had to re-elect representatives, and the General was often away (and Poe and others of the command staff were often away) to meet with newly-elected senators to encourage their support of the Resistance. But the good news (if anything “good” could come from the destruction of five planets) was that there were new recruits every day. Terrorism and genocide tended to make people sit up and recognize there was a war on. Poe and Finn (and, by now, the crop of recruits Finn had first trained) often had their hands full training newer members.

So Finn was going to make certain that the First Order was gone within the next six months. He called it ambitious, Rey and Poe called it insane, and he didn't know what Dr. Kalonia thought because he was afraid to mention it to her in their meetings. But Leia had to know, because he had to take the Commissioned Officer tests and be put back on active duty before he could do anything even remotely helpful. This was why he found himself standing awkwardly outside her office door, hand raised to knock and wondering at his own reluctance to speak to his General (and the woman who was going to give him away at his wedding).

“How long do you think we should wait?" said a voice behind him, and when Finn turned around, Leia stood there with a mug of tea, giving him a bemused smile before walking past him into her office. “Come on in, Finn. Something I can help you with?" she called behind her.

Though nervous, Finn couldn't help but smile at Leia's question. He remained standing until she sat and waved absently for him to take a seat. "I've been studying for the Officer Exam, and I'd like your permission to take it. I...would like to help the First Order to an earlier grave," he said, trying to gauge her reaction—but it was hard, especially without Poe or Rey to give him some clue.

Leia blinked, eyebrows raised, and she sat down heavily. "Finn. This is—wonderful news. You've studied _all_ the manuals?" But of course, Finn was a quick study. She knew that. That wasn't the most important question. "Did you ask Harter about this?"

"...No?" Finn said, but provided no reason, instead squirming a little in his seat. He had no good answer for that question, and had hoped the General wouldn't ask it at all. But of course she did—in matters like this, Dr. Kalonia had final judgment.

"Well." Leia couldn't help but smile, leaning back in her chair. "How are you doing, these days? I've read the report, and I'm no doctor, but—I’ve dealt with my share of...we'll say 'traumas.'" She didn't let any of those memories show on her face, however. She was still the General here. "And I think that no one can tell any better than you whether you are ready or not. So are you fit to command?"

"I will be by the time I finish the exams," Finn answered, because he wasn't quite prepared to say with absolute certainty that he had no concerns. On-planet he was mostly fine. He had nightmares, sure, and BB-8 occasionally had to bump insistently at his shins to snap him out of a panic...but it was all manageable. He wouldn't know until he tried if it would remain that way once he started going on real missions again. "I think it's time I tried, and I wouldn't ask if I thought I would put anyone in danger by doing so."

He paused, fidgeted some more, and tried to out-wait Leia, which was ultimately futile. With a sigh, he likes down at his hands and mumbled, "I'm worried the First Order will find out about the wedding and launch some kind of attack, and they can't do that if they've been broken."

Now Leia looked amused. “So you’ve set yourself a six-month goal. Ambitious.” She stared at Finn carefully for many minutes, as if seeing into his soul. “I can let you take the exams. I’ll inform Connix and she can administer the exams. I will even talk to Harter—though I presume she’ll want to talk to you, too. But, Finn, this is very important.” She leaned forward. “I am not putting you in the field until _you_ can tell me with one hundred percent certainty that you are ready.”

She let that sink in a moment before standing up and leaning across her desk, towering over him from this angle. “Ever since you came to us, Finn, and since Deeks, and these other stormtroopers we keep hearing about, you are more than one man. You are more than your own life. You are more, even, than the happiness and stability of my best pilot and the penultimate Jedi. You are a resistance in and of yourself, Finn. You are a beacon. I would _kill_ to have you in the field, on active duty. We’d be combing defecting ‘troopers out of our hair with every single mission if you were in the field. But if we lost you, or if something happened to you on a mission, Finn, we would lose that beacon. The stormtroopers like you would lose that beacon. You are my greatest weapon against the First Order, Finn, and I haven’t told you this before now because I didn’t want to rush you. I still don’t want to rush you.”

Finn shifted a little uneasily, not entirely sure if he wanted this kind of responsibility, or to be a symbol, or a beacon, or any of that. He wasn’t even sure he could live up to being all the things the General had just said he was, but he knew without a doubt that for the General, he’d give it his best effort, whatever it took. That much, he could certainly do. And it wasn’t as if she’d ever asked for anything more than the best her troops could give her.

He understood how the General inspired such loyalty in those she commanded: she gave it back to them. It was something the First Order utterly lacked, to their detriment.

Leia held his gaze and then sat again. “You will never stop being a brave young man whom I have grown to love—you will never stop being an individual who is important to me as a person. But you are _also_ more, and bigger than yourself. I want you to be an officer more than you want to be one, if you can believe it.” He couldn’t, really, but the General was honest and she didn’t give compliments lightly, so he accepted it.

Then Leia smiled. “If I get to make you an officer and get you in the field, Finn, six months to crush the First Order sounds absolutely doable to me.”

Finn grinned brightly in response. “Yes ma’am.”

…

Connix handed Finn a datapad—one of his own, now, to keep, which Leia had specifically requisitioned for him, without delay—with the exam schedule already loaded onto it.

“Okay. You have lots of choice, here, but I put everything in default. The Officer’s Exam consists of six separate exams, which you can take no less than one standard week apart and no more than a standard month apart. Therefore, our timeline is six weeks to six months. Your choice. Each exam consists of a written and practical, four hours each, which can be taken as few as two hours or as many as twenty-four hours apart. The fields are Equipment and Supply, Infantry, Medical, Starships and Naval, and Tactical. You can schedule them in any order. Once you set your schedule, we cannot deviate from it without documentation that is really not worth my time, or yours, so outline something you think you can actually do.” She took a deep breath, realizing that had come out all in a rush. Though her tone was strictly business, she wanted to see Finn succeed at this as much as the General—and everyone—did. “Would you like my help scheduling, or would you rather do it on your own and get it back to me? I can make certain recommendations, if you like.”

"Is it crazy to try to do it in six weeks?" Finn asked, though he intended to do just that regardless of how crazy it was. "And is there a common order or logic to how people choose which ones they do in what order?" He was tempted to get the hardest ones done first, and save the easiest for when he'd be most tired.

Connix considered Finn for a few minutes. "Not for you," she said, and shrugged. "I mean, okay, it's a little crazy, but I am talking to the ex-First Order stormtrooper who helped bring down Starkiller, jumped out of a transport to commandeer an AT-AA to protect our evacuation, and has so far been the brightest person I've ever seen go through the Officer Training Program." She smiled, but she wasn't flattering him. It was true. "As for the order of the exams, I think starting with the subjects you think you'll struggle with the most first is good, and work down to the ones you are more confident in."

Finn nodded and considered the subjects, quickly deciding he should tackle starships and naval first, then equipment and supply, medical, tactical, and infantry. He'd looked through the infantry training manual, but other than a few Resistance-specific things, most of it he already knew. but he'd be lucky if he made it through the practical for starships without crashing a virtual ship. When he was done, he handed the schedule back to Connix and offered her a nervous little smile.

Connix nodded and took the schedule. "All right. You have two weeks to prepare for the first one. I'm glad to study with you around my active duties, and you'll of course be relieved of any non-essential duties in the meantime," she said, making notes. I would imagine Commander Dameron and Rey would be useful in your preparation for the Starships exam. I'll reserve a room and be in touch with you. Any questions?"

…

"You're taking the Starships exam first?" Rey said, reviewing Finn's exam schedule. "Shouldn't you put the easier exams toward the end...?"

Poe coughed, shaking his head at her from behind Finn.

"Oh!" Rey said. "Well I suppose just because Poe and I find that sort of thing easy…" she trailed off, looking through Finn's notes. "Oh, er, there's a written portion?" She made a horrified face. Rey was more of a practical kind of girl. "Glad it's not me taking these exams, anyway."

Poe laughed. "Hey, even a prodigy like Finn is going to have things he's good at and things he's _better_ at, so leave him alone. I'd go for the practical first, though, buddy, so you're at your physical best, and take the written portion after."

"Or," Jessica Pava said, sitting across from the trio, "You could take advice from someone who's been through The Gauntlet in the last decade, not to mention at all."

Finn laughed at the indignant look on both Poe's and Rey's faces and smiled gratefully at Jess. "Wait, we call it The Gauntlet now?" That sounded a little dramatic to Finn. "How bad _is_ it?" he asked first. "And which one is the worst?"

"I hated Medical," Jess said, "but it doesn't seem like you'll have trouble with that. Equipment and Supply is just...niggly. And don't let these bullies tell you that the Starships one is easy. They are all thorough and complex, because we only want the best people for our officers." She smiled. "But I do think you are the best."

"We're not bullying him," Poe said, wounded, and stealing food off her plate in retaliation. "We were just getting to the part where we offer to help him study. Except I'm shit at the Equipment and Supply one. I'm sure I went on a raging bender after that one and forgot all of it." He grinned.

"It's a good thing the Starships practical is in a simulator," Finn said, "Otherwise we'd be liable to lose a perfectly good starship."

"Not to mention the person in it," Rey added, and Finn grinned at her.

"Well, I'd eject, of course."

Poe coughed again, whispering something about who had to press the eject button for both of them when they crashed on Jakku, and Rey gave him an 'oh really?' look.

Finn shrugged a shoulder. "Probably."

"I don't understand how you could possibly be as bad as you think you are. You’ve landed a starship before, haven’t you?" Jess asked. Finn looked over at Poe.

"Yeah, well, that A-Wing. But autopilot, BB-8, Poe, and I landed that one. Mostly BB-8."

" _Still_ a Y-Wing…" Poe said wearily, like they had had this conversation a few times before, and laughed into his hand helplessly until Rey pinched him. "I swear I'm not laughing _at_ you, Finn," he explained. “I’m just…”

"I'll help you, Finn," Rey offered gallantly. "I can save us if we start crashing or spinning wildly out of control..." Poe was now gaping at her openly, and it took her a moment to realize how that sounded. "Not that you'd crash us!" she cried, looking nervous.

Jess laughed and patted Finn's hand. "So now that your fiancés are sleeping on the couch, Finn, when do you want to study with me?" Jess offered with a wink.

"This afternoon? Are you sure you have time?" Finn asked. If Jess could help him with the starship test, he would be happy to subject Poe and Rey to helping him with everything else. He was already trying to figure out what order to re-read the training manuals in, and what he needed to study the most because he'd already had trouble with it once, and what he could probably afford to skip, and how he was going to get this all done in two weeks and—

And then BB-8 was bumping insistently at his shins and making soft little beeping sounds. Finn realized he'd zoned out and that Rey, Poe, and Jess were all staring at him and looking somewhat alarmed.

"I was saying, yes, I'll help," Jess offered. "We can set up a time for regular meetings, too. A consistent schedule is most helpful, I found. And schedule time to rest and relax. Poe and Rey can help by not bothering you during certain hours, and make sure you're well taken care of, fed, and rested the other times. I know it sounds weird, but you might even want to schedule sex." She winked, but Poe looked offended.

"But where's the romance in that?"

Rey elbowed him. "We're in trouble, remember?"

"Oh, right. Whatever you say, darling dearest." Poe and Rey gave Finn matching sugary-sweet smiles, mostly playful.


	2. Chapter 2

Finn’s meeting with Dr. Kalonia went about as well as expected—

No, she’d seen no obvious change in his psych eval scores, and, no, a Force Bond with a Jedi as a cure for panic attacks and dissociative episodes had no basis in science, and no, wanting to crush the First Order in time for his wedding was not _really_ a good enough reason to allow him to put his and others’ lives at risk—

“However,” she said. “Leia spoke with me. And we do need you. I took you off active duty because you asked me to. When you tell me you’re ready again, I will stand by your decision.”

“There’s a ‘but’ there,” Finn said warily.

“The ‘but’ is that you’re an honest man, Finn.” Dr. Kalonia smiled. “You won’t tell me you’re ready if you’re not.”

Finn sighed. “Yeah.” He certainly didn’t want to freak out while he was supposed to be leading people into battle—or even after. He certainly didn’t want to have an episode where he forgot he wasn’t a stormtrooper anymore when he was supposed to be fighting them.

“Fair?”

He nodded. “Absolutely.”

…

“Okay, it’s almost eight. Lightning round, and then we pack in,” Jess said with a chuckle, scrolling down to the review questions. “And no, we’re not going over. I’m hungry, and you should be, too.”

Finn's brain was already overheating—he hated starships and everything about them and he was never going near one ever again and if he so much as _saw_ one he was going to cry—but Jess didn't need to know any of that. "Lightning round—as many questions as I can answer in...two minutes?" he asked.

"Yeah. Ready?" Jessika said, and when Finn nodded: "Interstellar flight became possible with the invention of what?"

"The dual-drive system," Finn answered immediately.

"Good. And what is the engine normally used in TIE fighters and Star Destroyers because of its—"

"The ION engine, because of its high power to weight ratio."

"O-ho, I can see you need something a bit more challenging," Jess hummed, delighted that he was doing so well. "Okay, give me the eleven classes of starships."

"All eleven?" Finn whined, "That's so many..."

“Yeah? I could say the same thing about blasters. Why do you need them in different sizes and colors and ranges and crap? Don’t answer that. Eleven classes of starships.”

But Finn was tired of thinking, and he just wanted to be done for the day. "Okay—starfighter, bomber, gunship, capital ship, scout vessel, transport, shuttle, freighter, space station..." He couldn't remember the other two, even after he thought for several seconds. "The other two exist, but not in my brain," he said, annoyed with himself.

"It's okay, you know this," Jessika encouraged. "You're forgetting about the ships rich people tool around in, and in-system ships without hyperdrives..."

"Why do we even have to know about the stupid ships rich people tool around in? None of us are going to get anywhere near them..." Finn said, but at the look Jess was giving him, he sighed and tried harder to remember. "The second one is system patrol crafts," he answered, 'in-system' having jogged his memory. But he still couldn't remember the last one, and it was making him angry and frustrated. "Will they accept 'stupid rich people ships' if I forget the name?" he asked.

Jessika's laugh took up at least thirty seconds of Finn's two minutes of questions. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Statura would accept that answer," she said, snorting. "For the record, _yacht_ is what we were looking for. And to be fair, Poe's first mission with the Resistance was stealing plans from a First-Order-sympathizing senator's yacht. Soo...name me some models of yachts?" She glanced at her chronometer. "Er. As many as you can name in twenty seconds."

"There's the one that looks like someone played connect-the-dots with an x-wing and then painted it a really hideous bright silver color so every individual of less-than-honorable intentions would know it was coming from several lightyears away," Finn answered, "They call it the royal starship in case anyone is in any doubt as to the importance of the individual on board." He had a lot of steam to blow off, and insulting the ridiculous vessels belonging to the elite classes seemed like a good way to do it. "There are like... at least three different space yachts, for the sake of creativity: the Minstrel, the Model 11-S, and the 1550-LEX. Oh, and the Luxury 3000 space yacht, because someone was feeling especially descriptive." He grinned wickedly, took a breath, and continued. "And also the J-type hyperspeed smugglerbait timewaster 11000."

Jess wasn't sure at what point Finn trailed off into the absurd because she was laughing long before. "Gods, you said it, Finnegan. Let me guess, you must be dating a Starfighter pilot and the pilot of the Millenium Falcon, right?" She threw an arm around him and powered down the datapad. "That's enough torture for one day. Wouldn't want you getting the wrong idea about how we treat people in the Resistance. You did good, man, let's get some chow." But as Finn reached for the datapad she drew it back. "Nuh-uh. I'm handing this off to a responsible adult. So, Rey, when I see her. Tomorrow, you and me can go canoodling in my cockpit if you know what I _oh hi_ , Poe, how has your day been?" Jess said, as Poe was waiting for them outside the meeting room.

"Says the gayest woman in the Resistance," Poe teased right back. "Anyway, you know as long as you take pictures..." but he laughed and leaned in to kiss Finn. "How was it?"

"Yachts are stupid," Finn replied after he'd returned Poe's kiss. "How was your day?" he asked as Poe steered him toward the mess hall and Jess followed them, still in possession of the datapad (to Finn's annoyance, when he subtly tried to grab it away from her again and missed).

"Not subtle at all, Future Mister Rey Dameron," Rey said, seeing Finn swiping at the datapad and lifting it from Jessika's possession herself.

Poe laughed. "Mister _Rey_ Dameron?"

"Yeah!" Rey said, digging into her sandwich sloppily. "Bastian was telling me how sometimes spouses take on the full name of the most important person in the marriage, for official things. Like on transmissions and at balls. And I'm _clearly_ going to be the most important person in the marriage. Even when you make general, Finn." She said it so matter-of-factly that everyone was afraid to laugh, except for Poe, who wasn’t _laughing_ so much as choking, technically.

"Shit, you're the cutest person in the kriffing galaxy," Poe managed, after Snap had slapped him on the back until he could breathe.

"That sounded pretty patronizing for the third most important person in your upcoming marriage," Jessika said.

Poe shook his head, wiping away tears. "Mr. Rey Dameron, the luckiest man alive," he said, almost dreamily.

"So how's the studying going, Finn?" Snap asked Finn. "Jess driving you crazy yet?"

"Today I learned that yachts are stupid," Finn told Snap with a grin before digging in to his meal. Rey sat next to him and ate her own food before sneaking bites off his plate while she thought he wasn't looking—or more likely, she knew he was looking and also knew what he never finished anyway.

Eventually they were all full, though, and Jess and Snap left, Jess recounting Finn's answers to the yacht questions while Snap tried not to laugh so hard that he'd walk into a wall. Finn turned to Rey and Poe and smiled. "Time to go home?" he asked hopefully. His brain still hurt, and it made him tired.

"Time to go home," Poe agreed with a soft smile. "Rey and I have ideas for how we could spend the evening, if you're interested? One involves sex and the other watching holovids. I'll let you decide who thought up which."

"But," Rey added hastily. "There's no reason we can't do both. Or something else entirely, if you want. We can go straight to bed if you'd rather," she offered, though how much she clearly did not want to do that was written in her face.

"If I choose both, does that make me seem greedy?" Finn asked jokingly, because he couldn't think of a better way to stop thinking so hard. Rey and Poe beamed and kissed him. He stood and pulled both Poe and Rey to their feet so he could kiss them, then put an arm around each of them to steer them back toward the room.

"Wrong way, pal," Poe said, correcting their course as Finn yawned something about knowing that, he was just testing them.

"Not greedy. Magnanimous,” Rey said. “Really you're doing us a favor, keeping us both happy."

"I think he'll make a very good husband," Poe said.

"Oh, yes," Rey agreed. "A good husband and a good general."

Once inside their room, BB-8 burbled excitedly at them, and they sat through a story about the latest droid gossip ([Friends! Something is afoot! Friend-3PO and Friend-R2 are quarreling again. Here are the juicy details, and remember you heard them here first! Don’t listen to R5, she is a liar…]) before they had the heart to ask if BB-8 would watch a holovid with them.

" _Speedy and Spurious 4_?" Rey suggested. "Then Finn can _study_ while relaxing!"

"Ugh, we watch that one too much. How about _Top Cannon_?" Poe suggested instead. "Hot starships, hot girls, that really fantastically homoerotic boloball sequence..."

"What if you two decided because my brain is obviously not working very well?" Finn asked. He was drifting toward the bed with them as he said it, and Rey laughed.

"You just want the chance to get snuggled in and take all the pillows first while we argue," she said, and he smiled.

"No, never, I wouldn't do anything like that! Look! A speedy McFastPants luxury yacht!" he said, pointing directly at the wall and then laughing as he scrambled for pillows. Okay, so maybe the studying had made him a little silly. Could anyone really blame him?

"You say the sexiest things, you know that, darling?" Poe purred, crawling on the bed and over the top of Finn. "Just for that, though, we're going to get a hideously outdated yacht after the war. A fixer-upper for Rey to tinker with and me to fly _safely_ in, and we'll take all our kids toodling around the galaxies in it. And everyone will expect it to be full of old fogeys but it's got our dorky, sexy, family in it!"

Rey laughed. "As long as you're flying it, Poe," she teased, “because I definitely wouldn’t be caught dead flying one of those,” and deciding finally on _Top Cannon_ before joining them on the bed, where Poe had already gotten Finn entirely undressed.

"Apparently some yachts go fast," Finn said helpfully as the movie started. Rey laughed under her breath at his eloquence and stretched out next to him, stealing both his hands and holding his wrists above his head. Then she scratched his arm very softly, watching happily as his eyelids dropped just enough to make him look sleepy and content.

"Mm, yeah, hold him juuuust like that," Poe whispered, kissing Rey's shoulder before refocusing on Finn. "Gonna taste you, buddy," Poe said, kissing a trail down his chest, trailing his fingernails in his wake. "Gonna put you to sleep even before the sexy boloball scene." Poe grinned and without much teasing, swallowed Finn's cock.

Rey hummed and held him down as he bucked, licking inside his mouth, and Finn would later swear that their tongues were working in sync (and if using the Force to make their tongues work in sync was inappropriate, then Rey wasn’t interested in being appropriate). Poe, for his part, loved being able to _think_ words and thoughts and feelings at Rey while his mouth was otherwise occupied. Rey just closed her eyes and opened up, letting them feel and letting those feelings wash over her like summer rain.

The space Rey and Poe made in Finn’s mind was like a sanctuary from the endless exhausted circle of thoughts and facts and figures Finn kept finding himself in. He settled happily there, felt Rey welcome him home. Between her gentle hold on his wrists and Poe's mouth around his cock, he wasn't going to last long, and he told them as much, making sure they felt his pleasure as it built.

Finn didn't last long and Poe didn't tease, and soon they were all curled up together at the same height, Rey and Poe on either side of Finn. They stayed awake for most of the holo, if only because Poe made sure Finn was awake for the boloball sequence and Rey made sure he watched all the dogfights while the two pilots both pointed out the (to them) blatant inaccuracies. But when Finn fell asleep a second time (okay they may all three of them have gotten a little handsy during the love scene, which rendered Finn and Poe sated and exhausted) they let him sleep until morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Finn had a schedule, and Poe and Rey were very good at sticking to it. They weren’t allowed to bother him except to bring him food or water or one kiss at a time—Finn was very strict on this rule—until 2000 each night. Which was fine. Then they could give him a proper meal, drag him into the refresher, and make sure he did relaxing, mindless things until it was time for an early night.

Finn was the one who wasn’t good at this schedule.

“Son of a bitch was up at _0400_ this morning!” Poe complained to Rey over breakfast, which Finn wasn’t at. “I know because I woke up but was too damn tired to stop him! I think that’s cheating. We need to tell him he can’t start until 0600 or something. How can sixteen hours of study and practice and training a day be good for him? He’s _smart_ , he _knows_ this stuff, he can’t need to study that much.” He was stabbing at his food, not eating it.

"Maybe he couldn't sleep?" Rey asked. She had been dead to the world and hadn't noticed him leaving. He hadn't said anything about trouble sleeping, though. "We could tell him if he's going to get up earlier, he has to go to bed—and stop studying—earlier." She wasn't sure how well that would go over, but it was probably worth a try. He had "felt" funny lately, more distant in a way she'd be more likely to expect from Poe, but Rey chalked it up to stress.

When they asked, Finn said no, there was too much at stake, they didn't understand because they had been flying for years or could use the Force, and, they told each other, surely he would stop freaking out after the Starship exam.

But he didn't.

Finn took to studying wherever it was quiet—their room in the morning, an abandoned office that Leia hesitantly told him he could temporarily use, or a quiet corner of the cafeteria when it was between meals. He was supposed to take the day after the starships part of the exam off, but he'd certainly failed the practical. He had crashed the simulator ship three times before he managed to land it and was politely dismissed.

He was panicking, so he did the only thing he could and went to go study some more. It made him feel better, doing something, and it meant he wouldn't be pacing circles at home and driving Poe and Rey to distraction. BB-8 expressed concern and asked if they should find either of them, but Finn smiled and told the little droid no. Rey and Poe would probably just scold him for working too hard at this point, and he didn't have time for it.

"Okay, Finn, I get it," Poe said, from where he stood in the doorway of the office they had finally discovered him in. "I get that it sucks when your significant other gets into workaholic mode and you don't get to see him and he runs himself into the ground with stress. Lesson learned. I am duly ashamed of myself and how I acted before we left D’Qar, so you can stop trying to prove your point and come with me and Rey now, right, buddy?"

Rey had her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. She looked like the muscle to Poe’s mouth.

Finn bit back a snappy response and took a deep breath instead. "Not right now," he said, gesturing to the pile of papers on the deal and the holopad he was currently reading. "And it's not 2000 yet."

"Yeah, because it's your day off, where you're not supposed to study at _all_ ," Rey said firmly. "You finished one exam and need a break to clear your mind for the next challenge."

"See, it's not even hypocritical when she says it," Poe said, with a grin and a wink. "Come on, sweetheart," he continued, stepping into the room.

 _I'm trying to clear my mind!_ Finn wanted to snarl, because the longer they kept him from working, the more he remembered what he had yet to review. "I know I said that, but I can't," he said carefully, and looked at Poe as if searching for understanding. He didn't find any—not that he recognized, anyway. "You don't understand," he told them, because they didn't—they didn't understand that he had to pass these tests, that he had to make officer so he could protect _them_ , and they didn't understand that nothing in his life had quite prepared him to deal with this, so he was doing what he knew he did well—he was focusing.

Rey bristled at that, and she felt Poe bristle, both of them defensive and angry, but she felt Poe make an active choice to calm himself that was frankly a good example to her. "You're right, Finn," he said. "We can't understand. We couldn't possibly." He approached, palms out in supplication.

"But," Rey said. "You're underestimating yourself. I _understand_ that you're the sharpest man I've ever met, and a quick learner! You can afford a break. You won't do as well if you're tired. Master Luke is always reminding me of that when I want to keep going." She pressed her lips together, worriedly.

"Are you going to leave me alone so I can work, or just stay here and make it impossible for me to get anything done?" Finn asked, finally, his voice taking on an annoyed edge.

Now close enough to Finn, Poe snagged the datapad from Finn's desk and passed it to Rey. "We'll leave you alone if you can answer one question correctly," he said, and recited from memory an easy one: "What's the maximum cargo capacity of a transport starship? Let's say the mid-range CR90 corvette. I'll take it in kilograms or cubic meters." He glanced over Rey's shoulder at the datapad. "I'll...ah, take the answer from ten years ago or the current number," he amended, and Rey guffawed.

"I don't—I don't know, THAT'S WHY I'M STUDYING," Finn said angrily, his patience gone. He made a grab for the datapad, but Rey spun away from him. "Come _on_ ," he growled. They were _laughing_ at him. "Why are you being this way? I just want to work in _peace_."

"We are _not_ laughing at you, Finn," Rey said, brow furrowed and suddenly serious. "But if you can't even get the datapad away from me, you're not in any condition to be studying, and you’ll probably fail the practical exam in this condition."

"Everything you're reading right now isn't sticking. You literally _just_ read that the CR90 can max load 40,000 kilos." Poe snagged the datapad back from Rey and showed it to him. "We're not laughing at you and we're not trying to make you feel stupid, because you are not stupid. But any studying you do now is clearly not sticking, so there's nothing to do but rest and approach it with a fresh mind."

"If _Poe_ can get the datapad from me and _you_ can't, I’m worried about your physical state," Rey added.

"Haha, yeah—hey!" Poe cried.

Finn huffed in irritation. "Fine," he snapped, "What do you want me to do? How am I supposed to relax and do nothing at the same time?" he demanded.

Poe held out his hand, and grumbling, Finn rested the datapad in his grasp. Poe turned it off and tucked it under his arm. "Too bad for you, our next step was going to be chasing you around the base and, when we caught you, we'd drag you back to bed and pin you there with kisses and snuggles," he said, sugary sweet as he leaned in for a kiss, and Rey slid in behind him, her hands on his shoulders, squeezing gently.

"Oh, you're so tense! Finn!" she gasped, sounding horrified.

"How about a massage?” Poe suggested.

“Or we can go to the mess and get something to eat? Whatever you want, love," Rey hummed, kissing the back of his neck as Poe stepped in closer and they linked arms around him.

"What I _want_ to do is study," Finn said softly, still tensed between Rey and Poe. He wasn't going to be distracted that easily. He was still upset they'd laughed at him, and that they had held the datapad hostage, and that they were acting like this wasn't a huge deal and like he should just _take a break_ , as if he could do that when he was aware of every single second he wasn't spending reviewing.

"And I'm assuming you want to study _well_ , so you're going to rest first," Poe said. "You've been sleeping even less than me, sweetness."

"Hm, I don't trust him not to run off, so you go get food, and meet us back in the room," Rey said, taking Finn's hand and turning him around. "We can even help you study—after you eat, and get in the refresher."

"And let us give you a massage," Poe added, winking at Rey. "If you think you're passing the practical with your shoulders hunched like that..."

Finn was silent as Rey led him back to their room, muttering occasionally and still wound up enough that he started when Rey stopped suddenly at their door and keyed in the code. He was determined to remain surly and annoyed, but the bed _did_ look incredibly inviting, still unmade from this morning and piled with pillows and sheets. He may have sighed a little wistfully at the mere sight of it before glaring at Rey just so she'd know he was still against this idea. He could sleep after he was an officer, or after the First Order were so completely broken as to be no threat to anyone ever again.

Rey rolled her eyes and leaned back against the door, flashing him a blinding grin that told him she thought he was _precious_. "Am I going to have to change the lock on the door?" she teased. "Good thing Poe has your datapad." She stepped up to him and ran her fingertips over his arms, squeezing his triceps and then scratching the insides of his arms as she worked her way down. "Poe said we should steal your clothes, to prevent you from escaping, though I'm not sure he doesn't have ulterior motives," she said, barely able to stifle a giggle. "But since it's more fun to get in the refresher naked...want to let me help you undress?" She bit her lip playfully.

Finn shrugged, but pulled his shirt off over his head and dropped it on the floor just because it would make Rey roll her eyes—she hated it when they left their clothes scattered all over the floor (he hated it, too, though, so it wasn’t particularly good vengeance). He was somewhat mollified by the gentle arm-scratching, but that just annoyed him all over again the second he felt himself relaxing.

“I’ve got it,” he growled. Instead of waiting for Rey's help, he practically tripped out of his pants and underwear and into the bathroom to turn the refresher on, and immediately felt horrible about it. It was one thing to do that to Poe, who knew better than to take him seriously when he was being anti-affectionate for effect. It was another to do it to Rey, who was still occasionally insecure about people leaving her, and who was unpredictable about when she was going to take Finn seriously and when she was going to roll her eyes and ignore his sass completely.

Finn was lucky of two things: one, she was a good enough Force-user (and they were close enough now through their Force bond) that she read how badly Finn felt after acting so _rudely_ when she was just trying to help; and two, that she had talked to Poe about this before, had heard about their Big Fight, and been forewarned about how Finn's negativity manifested in passive-aggression when he was under stress. And he was under intense stress, of course, and with good reason and for good cause, but he was also being an _idiot_ because even though Rey had never taken an exam in her life (Master Skywalker's tests of her abilities, she felt, didn't really count), even she knew that you didn't learn when you were tired. She remembered deliriously scavenging the same crashed TIE _twice_ because she had been tired and dehydrated and as a result had wasted more time which had nearly killed her. She hadn't had a choice, then. Finn did.

It was frustrating.

She followed him into the refresher like a predator stalking her prey. He was lucky he was cute. So, three reasons.

"Finn," she said softly, and tried a different approach: "Are you worried about how the starfighter exam went?"

"I only crashed a starship three times in the same practical, so no, I'm not worried at all," Finn replied, standing in the refresher with his forehead pressed to the wall. Actually, he was more worried about the tests he hadn't taken yet and everything else that went with them and that had to happen after them. But worry about the starship exam was far more straightforward and wouldn't involve a discussion about setting realistic goals and not killing himself trying to get rid of the First Order, so he decided they could just go with that.

"Oh, _Finn_ ," she said tenderly, stripping and following him into the refresher. She kissed across his shoulder and gently but insistently turned him around in her arms. "Look at me, Finn." When he reluctantly met her gaze: "Do you think you might have done better if you'd got more than five hours of sleep the night before?" she asked, plainly but not cruelly. But before he could answer—

"Hey, you started the party without me?" came a cry from the door, as Poe entered.

"I would have crashed anyway. I really can't fly," Finn said. He heaved a sigh and went back to leaning against the wall. "It's not a party," he added to Poe once he joined them. "I have to do better." They were already never going to let him near a starship—he couldn't afford more failures.

"And you will," Rey insisted, pressing him gently against the refresher wall and kissing him.

"You put the hardest one first, honey, it's all downhill from here," Poe said, hopping out of his trousers awkwardly.

"That's new," Rey commented. 

Poe grinned. "Honey? Yeah, it’s cute, thought I'd try it out. My honeys," Poe purred, stepping into the fresher and getting his arms around both of them. "Food can wait a few minutes before it gets cold, but we don't want to be too long."

"That doesn't mean I can stop studying. Just because starships is the hardest doesn't mean the rest will be easy," Finn told Poe as he joined them in the refresher, wriggling a bit against Poe's grip.

"Finn," Rey said, growing exasperated again. "You _have_ to take breaks from studying or you won't learn any of it, much less be in any condition to _take_ the exams!"

As if to prove a point, Poe pushed Finn against the wall of the refresher—and he knew this time that Finn wasn't just letting him win. "Look at you, Finn, you're weak as a kitten."

"What if the base were attacked, right now?" Rey said. "You're in no condition for anything!"

That was a good point, if a low blow: Poe saw in Finn's eyes how that struck him. "What if Kylo Ren walked through that door right now? You want Rey to have to protect us both? You couldn't stop him. You can't even stop me!" He held Finn against the wall as he began to fight back in earnest, not in the sexy way he usually half-fought against Poe pushing him against a wall, but earnestly fighting him, and to no avail.

Finn shoved against Poe's arm, but he couldn't shift him. "Let GO!" he snarled, "WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?" It was true—he wouldn't be able to do _anything_ if they got attacked. " _I’m doing this to protect you_ ," he cried, leaning on Poe's arm more than fighting it, suddenly near tears.

"By wrecking yourself?" Poe said, pulling Finn suddenly into a crushing hug. "You can do both, Finn. You're going to pass these exams easier if you don't try to cram things into a tired brain, sweetheart. And you can be strong enough to deal with them when they come—with whatever comes—if you just take care of yourself a bit."

Rey curled around behind him, washing him with a soapy cloth. "You're going to be fine," she promised, holding him tight.

"But what if I'm not?" Finn asked both of them softly, and wow, he must be really tired, because before he realized what was happening, he'd leaned against Poe's chest and was crying, because he was _tired_ and he was _worried_ and _scared_ and he'd done all of this to himself and by all rights had no right to complain about it now, especially to them.

Poe and Rey both knew that breathing a sigh of relief at your significant other bursting into tears was _not_ the correct reaction, but all the tension went out of him, too, and they moved in closer until he was held tightly between them. "Hey, hey, easy," Poe murmured, stroking his hair and kissing his brow.

"You _are_ going to be fine," Rey promised, running her fingernails up and down his sides and kissing the back of his neck. "Trust the Jedi on this one, hm?" she said.

They were able to get him washed up without further trouble, and he had begun to tremble almost violently, so they dried him off and wrapped him in a blanket so tightly that his arms were pinned against him. "When was the last time you ate, sweetness?" Poe asked, kissing his temple.

"Don't answer that. We're done being cross with you. You're going to eat now," Rey said, matter-of-factly as they settled Finn between them on the bed, propped up against Poe's chest.

Finn was happy to lean on Rey and Poe, because they were holding him up and he was pretty sure if they let him lay down here was going to fall immediately asleep. But Rey was literally trying to feed him and he had a very solid objection to that, even if it took him six bites to realize it and wriggle an arm free of the blanket to hold his own spoon. He tried to remember what he'd just been eating, but he kept losing track, and eventually just gave up and continued taking quiet bites.

"There's my guy," Poe beamed, stupidly happy just to see Finn eating. "If he got any skinnier he could wear your wedding dress, Rey," he teased, and Rey reached around to hit his knee.

"No more teasing, Poe Dameron," she said, and turned to kiss Finn before inspecting the rest of the food Poe had brought and starting in on a sandwich.

"Finn, we mean it. You have to do this smart," she said once she and Finn had mostly finished their meals. Poe was barely picking at his, which meant he was still worried or upset. "You're supposed to trust us when we ask you to, right? That's what you and Poe talked about?"

Poe nodded. "I have a whole new perspective, actually." He grinned softly, scratching his fingers over the back of Finn's neck. “If _this_ is how I was acting, I’m a kriffing idiot.”

"But I can't—just shut it off," Finn answered, now too tired to bother with being evasive. He couldn't bother with explaining any better than that, either, but at least Rey could probably feel what he was feeling. Even exhausted, it was a barely controlled panic that he should be doing something else, should be studying or practicing or planning. Despite being tired to the point of being nearly incoherent, he was sure he wouldn't be able to actually sleep.

"We can help," Rey said. "That's why we're here. To take care of you when you need it." She turned Finn's chin toward her and kissed him, slow and unhurried, since that usually helped short out his brain. "So," she said when they parted. "I can offer some suggestions, but it's up to you to choose. We could try meditating, to clear your mind, or a nap, or we could watch a holovid. Something mindless and funny."

Poe thought those were all good choices, and was a bit concerned when Finn tensed. "Hey, um, how about you let me choose?" He offered, knowing how decisions over the simplest things, especially about things he _wanted_ , could paralyze Finn, even on a good day. "I vote holo, first. How's that sound, Finn?" He asked, rubbing his back. Finn responded to yes/no options much better.

"Sounds good," Finn answered, relieved that Poe had made the decision for them. He was pretty sure he'd have agonized about it for another hour and still not made a decision, the way things were going. "Cartoons are mindless, right?" he asked, because he'd recently discovered that cartoons existed in a format other than movies, and more he was determined to see all the different ones.

"Yeah, let's watch a few short ones, see how you're feeling," Poe said. "We've got you all day, after all," he said with an exaggeratedly evil laugh. "Oh and I've got this," he said, revealing the last chocolate bar.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Rey said, reaching greedily for it and feeding bites to Finn in between her own bites.

"I still owe you a shoulder massage, so I'm gonna sit behind you," Poe offered, having put on a cartoon he was sure Finn liked, and which was pretty mindless. Finn didn't even need to use his hands, just allow himself to be fed chocolate and given a massage.

"Where do you get this stuff? And where do you hide it?" Finn asked, and Rey offered him another piece of chocolate. He did his best to relax against Poe's chest and focus on the cartoon, but he felt _fidgety_ and _edgy_ until Poe started rubbing his shoulders and Rey snuck her hand to his arm and started scratching.

They watched a few episodes before Finn relaxed any, and Poe leaned him back against his chest and kissed his head and ears and forehead while Rey sprawled across him and scratched his arms and chest and thighs, gently, to relax him more. "Feeling like a nap yet?" Poe asked.

Rey stretched and hummed, curling up against Finn’s chest. "More chocolate?" she offered, and when Poe opened his mouth like a hungry baby bird, she dropped a piece in.

The comforting weight of Rey curled up on his chest and Poe's arms around them both were more relaxing than all the cartoons in the universe. "I don't deserve you guys," Finn said eventually. "I love you."

"We don't deserve you," Rey corrected.

"Certainly not someone as hard-working," Poe added.

"And smart."

"And kind."

"And comfortable." Rey yawned and grinned up at Finn. "I say we sleep until dinnertime and go for a nice walk after."

"Yes. Good plan," Poe said, getting his arms around both of them. He nodded and grinned down at Rey. This seemed to be working. "We love you, too, Finn."

"Oh _I_ see. You only love me because I'm a good pillow," Finn said with a small smile. "But what if we can't sleep tonight because we slept all day? I won't be able to study tomorrow because I'll be tired," he said, shifting restlessly—but not enough to dislodge Rey or break free of Poe's gentle hold.

Poe and Rey both laughed aloud.

"I think oversleeping is _not_ going to be a problem for you," Rey said.

"Bee, set an alarm for us. A three-hour nap. That won't mess you up, promise," Poe said.

BB-8 whirred. [Friend-Finn has a forty-seven hour sleep deficit for the past two weeks] they chirped, almost happily (Poe was beginning to think that his droid took a sick sense of pleasure in tattling).

And indeed, Finn was asleep in minutes. He looked much more bright-eyed and focused when he woke, and was as meek as a kitten—whether because he was just trying to make them happy or had seen the error of his ways was still to be determined. They all ate heartily at dinner, and went for a walk around the base's perimeter, within the outer gate where it was still sandy and a bit too warm for comfort (even at night) but not _awful_.

"So, on a scale of 1 to Jakku, how do we like Nkllon so far?" Poe asked, kicking some sand.

"You know how I feel about that word," Finn growled, swerving a little to bump Poe a couple steps to the side and nearly tripping.

"Really?" Rey asked as she pulled him back to her side to steady him.

"It hasn't tried to kill anyone yet, so... maybe a 7?" Finn asked. He was content for the moment, walking with Poe on one side and Rey on the other. They'd insisted on a walk after dinner and Finn hadn't objected. At least it saved him from making up his own mind, and if he was a little ashamed that following orders was _comforting_ , he was still too tired to really care.

"Welp, there goes my honeymoon idea," Poe said.

"Mine, too," Rey added, giggling as they both clung tighter to Finn's arms as he squirmed in disgust.

"I'd rate Nkllon _worse_ than Jakku, actually," Poe commented. "After all, it's where I met Finn, and where Finn met you."

Rey shrugged. "I agree. I was _used_ to Jakku. And it wasn't _actually_ lethal to walk around in the day there, just ill-advised. Nkllon could actually kill you."

Poe and Rey now grasped Finn's hands and swung them in tandem. "So...what's the cargo capacity of a CR90?" Poe quizzed, raising an eyebrow playfully.

Finn paused for a moment and thought. "40,000 kilos?" he asked. "That's... what, 110 cubic meters? Right?" He kicked at the sand and frowned as it made little puffs of dust. "Unless you're leaving from here and are also carrying a hundred kilos of _pure sand_."

“Right. 110 cubic meters or 40,000 kilos, whichever is less,” Poe confirmed, and kissed Finn’s cheek.

Rey tucked herself under Finn's arm and wrapped both arms around his waist. "See, that was easier, wasn't it?" she said softly.

"You're going to do _fine_ , honey, you got this," Poe said, moving in to sling an arm around Finn's shoulders. "And, look. General's desperate to have you on her command staff—I should know, it's the same look she gave me." He winked and then kissed Finn's temple. "These exams shouldn't have you worried: you basically just need a pass, and you could take them all right now and get that. So what _has_ got you worried?"

Rey looked up at him, searching his face and reaching out to comfort him across their bond.

Finn looked down at Rey, smiling softly as he felt her brush softly against his mind, warm and comforting and _home_. He sighed.

"What if we can't beat them in time?" he asked quietly. "They'll ruin everything. They'll attack during the wedding, and people will get hurt."

"Or they'll attack before the wedding, or after," Rey said. "We can't control that."

"We could not do Yavin, if it'd make you feel better," Poe offered. "I mean it's not like Ren doesn't already know where my childhood home is, if he really wanted to fuck with me. With us." Poe sighed. He could tell this wasn't helping.

"The point is, I don't want the First Order to have any power over our wedding," Rey said firmly. "And it will if we are afraid of them the whole time during it."

"If they attack during the wedding, so help them, my bridezilla rage will end the war right then," Poe teased.

"Not if I beat you to it," Rey said, and then bared her teeth in a threatening grin. Finn paused their walk to pull them both close to him, where he could kiss first Rey, then Poe. "Phasma won't know what hit her," Rey added, her voice muffled against Finn's shoulder.

"I don't want to _not_ have the wedding on Yavin. I want to see where you live and your dad is really excited." He really was. He'd sent them like...five transmissions lately, which was more than Poe had kicking around in one of their dresser drawers under his socks. And he was pretty sure Kes had sent a holomessage or two besides... "I still wish we could get rid of them in the next six months. I just want everyone to be _safe_. I want to _protect_ you." Rey snorted softly (she was still leaning quite happily against Finn and Poe) and Finn flashed a little grin. "Yeah, I know, you don't need it. But I still want to. I kind of like both of you, you know."

Poe laughed. "You know Kylo Ren's head on a platter _would_ make a fantastic wedding gift...so now you know what to get me, what do you two want?"

Rey rolled her eyes. "That's gross." She pursed her lips. "Okay, so actually a lightsaber would cauterize the wound so it wouldn't be _too_ gross," she considered.

"Seriously, though, Finn. The point of setting personal goals is not to freak out about them. If the FO stops us from getting married we've frankly got bigger problems. It'd be nice to take ‘em down by then but..."

"If we spend the whole time obsessed with getting rid of them, they will ruin our wedding anyway, and I'm not letting that happen," Rey said, poking Finn in the chest. "I want to marry you two regardless of anything else. The war and the First Order won't stop me."

"Listen to the Jedi," Poe warned, grinning. "Also: 'happy wife, happy life.' Dad always said that. Han, too."

Rey scoffed fondly. "I wonder how often Han took his own advice."

"Not a question I've ever dared ask the General. I'm _familiar_ , not suicidal," Poe laughed, and gave Finn a big squeeze. "So have we tired you out yet?"

"Ah, that's my secret—I’m always tired," Finn said. "But—yeah—I’m sleepy." He hummed happily in Poe's grasp and then laughed as Rey nuzzled his ear and tickled the back of his neck. "I'm still nervous," he told them, an unspoken warning: _this will probably not be the last time I lose my mind._

Poe and Rey both laughed at Finn's "secret," and each of them kissed one of his cheeks.

"That's okay," Poe said. "You're allowed to be nervous. You're even allowed to freak out."

"You're _not_ allowed to do this by yourself," Rey said fiercely.

"At least listen to Jess if you won't listen to us," Poe added, with a slightly wounded edge to his voice.

"I'd rather listen to you guys," Finn said. "We should head back while I'm tired, before I lose it again."

Rey narrowed her eyes at him at that one and kissed him soundly enough to surprise him and then kind of make him melt. She was smirking when she pulled away.

"No losing it tonight," she told him, and he nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

It was five weeks later, and Poe and Rey were arguing. Well, _arguing_ was a strong word, but they definitely bickering.

"He's going to be done in an hour—"

"He'll be done any minute, Rey. This is Finn, on the infantry exam. He's gonna kill it."

"Yes, Poe, I know that. And then he'll want to sleep for days."

"No, he’ll be pumped! We should get the gang together! His recruits will want to take him to grab a beer one last time before they have to call him 'sir'!"

"He _has_ been hitting the gym after his exams recently. Though if this is the infantry practical, he may be tired."

"We should let him decide."

"Unless he's in a mood where he doesn't want to make any decisions."

"Fine."

"Fine."

There was a pause. They were sitting outside the exam gym, on the floor, leaning against the wall, shoulders touching. BB-8 was pacing—well, rolling—up and down the hall. All three of them sighed together.

"Love you."

"Love you more."

"Well, I love you—"

"Finn!" Rey leapt up as the door opened, and Finn appeared, shirt soaked with sweat.

Finn grinned, feeling the lightest he'd felt in _weeks_. When Rey threw her arms around his neck he spun her, laughing. He did the same thing to Poe, laughing at his fiancé's startled squawk before he set him down. "I did it!" he laughed.

"Whoa, buddy!" Poe laughed, not having expected to be lifted up and swung around. "Of course you did it!" he said, punching Finn lightly in the arm.

"How do you think you did?" chirped Rey, taking Finn's hands and dancing with him.

"What do we want to do?" Poe asked.

BB-8 spun excitedly around Finn's feet, hooting Finn's praise at a high volume.

"I could pass infantry in my sleep," Finn said and then yawned in spite of himself. "Which I very nearly did." He knelt down and BB-8 bumped against his knees, still making happy chattering sounds. "First, I want to eat," he said. But BB-8 was chirping real words, and Finn listened more closely.

[Friend Finn Friend Finn! You can sleep now! Friend-Rey and Friend-Poe want to help!] they shrieked, and Finn winced at the pitch and volume.

"Bee, my guy, turn it down a little," he laughed. "Food, please, and then bed with my affianced," he said shyly to Poe and Rey.

Poe and Rey looked at each other. Rey's eyes were gleaming, and Poe's cheeks were slightly pink. "Anything, sweetheart," Poe said.

"You know I'm always ready to eat. I think it's a lasagna night!" Rey laughed, slinging an arm around Finn's shoulders.

"You want to eat out—oh, I'm sorry, I _mean_ eat in the mess hall—" Poe winked, but Rey rolled her eyes, "or you want to bring food back to the room?"

"We could see who else is in the mess and decide then?" Finn suggested. He threw an arm over Poe's shoulder and wrapped the other around Rey's waist. "My sun and stars," he hummed. And now he got them all to himself all afternoon _and_ all of tomorrow, and he didn’t have to think about anything but them.

But first, food.

Still holding both of them close, he tried to steer then toward the mess hall and ended up nearly tripping all three of them into a giggling pile of tangled limbs.

"Finn!" Poe yelped, and Rey screeched.

"Gods, could you get a room?" Jess asked, just exiting the mess hall to find the trio on the floor, and then she blinked. "Hey! Finn! You're out! Wasn't that your last exam?" she asked, helping them up. "Hey, Snap! Torch! Reist!" she called over her shoulder, and soon they—or rather, Finn—was enveloped in a swarm of hugs and congratulations.

Finn was laughing as Jess hauled him to his feet and Snap gave him a huge hug and everyone else thumped him on the back and shoulders. BB-8 orbited all of them shrieking in loud happiness, and was nearly punted as Deeks almost ran past them entirely, somehow not paying attention to the large group of people next to the mess hall doors. Jess reached out and caught him by the collar as he passed, hauling him back. "You're late, Deeks," she told him, sounding somewhat exasperated.

"I—oh! Hi, Finn!" he said, realizing that the group included Finn: "You finished!" he laughed, and clapped Finn on the shoulder hard enough to nearly knock him over.

"Maker, Deeks, don't _maul_ him..." Jess grumbled, and Deeks smiled sheepishly.

"You're too strong to be a pilot...want to be infantry?" Finn joked, which seemed to throw Deeks, who looked momentarily uncertain.

"No way, he's ours. You can't have him," Jess answered, and Deeks grinned at her with something like hero-worship.

"Look at this guy, he's sweated his weight in sweat, let's get him some food," Snap said, dragging Finn toward the chow line. "What can I get ya, Finn?"

Torch, Reist, and Coni showed up with a pitcher of beer each.

"Our last beer before we have to call you 'sir'!" Coni lamented, clearly well on her way to drowning her sorrows. They had all made NCO rank themselves by now, mostly because of Finn’s training, and this was their last chance to drink with him as equals (though they all knew they would never lose Finn’s friendship, just as he would never lose theirs).

Poe and Rey laughed, a little off to the side, letting everyone else have their turn. Poe poured himself and Rey a beer. "You'll like this one," he lied.

"You just want to drink mine when I don't like it."

"What no never!"

"There's lasagna, right?" Finn asked, and in answer was handed a plate with the largest amount of food he'd ever been given in his entire life. "...That may be a little excessive, Snap," he told the pilot.

Snap put another breadstick on his plate and raised his eyebrows.

"...Okay then," Finn answered.

"Time for beer!" Coni called and handed him one before he was herded to a bench and everyone gathered around at the same table with food and drink and laughter all around. He found Poe on one side of him and Rey slid into the seat next to him. Both of them kissed him on the cheek and Jess cat-called, which was ridiculous because literally everyone had seen them kiss before.

Poe and Rey helped Finn by picking off his plate, and the infantry helped by pressing more beer on him and asking how the practical went. Everyone was laughing and loud and rowdy, and after most of the food was gone, Poe left and returned with his secret surprise.

"Is that what I think it is?" Snap asked as a hush fell over the assembly.

"What is it?" Deeks asked Jess loudly, and she shushed him.

"This is Finn's congratulatory flan," Poe said. "So he gets to dish it out. Get your hands off, Snap, I swear I will demote you to an A-wing, buddy."

"I helped!" Rey said excitedly. Making desserts was a new favorite pastime. "So if there's anything wrong with it you can blame me."

"You made me _flan_?!" Finn asked reverently. "I love flan." He cut his own slice first, then one for Poe and Rey each, and then one for Snap, who looked ready to chew someone's arm off. Then he cut slices and handed them out to everyone else, except for three slices that he kept aside for the General, Luke, and Connix.

"That's for his breakfast, lunch, and dinner tomorrow," Poe teased, making sure everyone was served before digging in. "Oops, found my first eggshell," he said, but at the look of horror on Rey's face, he immediately laughed. "No! Just kidding! It was a joke! This may be the best flan I've ever tasted that wasn't my mom's!" he declared.

The table was silent, eating reverently.

"Oh gods," Snap finally said, his plate empty.

"That was amazing," Jess said.

Deeks leaned in to whisper to her loudly: "Do pilots always get this kind of food?"

Jess chuckled as the sad-looking soldiers across from her and slung and arm around Deeks. "Not always. But let's just say I've never heard anyone say Major Ematt's cooking was worth writing home about."

Poe beamed. "Hey, it’s not _just_ me. Rey helped," he had to concede. "She might have used the Force."

"That's not—"

"—how the Force works!" the rest of the pilots and soldiers chorused, well-used to this exchange. Finn laughed, which turned suddenly into a yawn.

"Tired?" Rey asked him, and he nodded.

"I'm trying not to be," he admitted. But now that he was done, his body seemed to be gradually going to sleep, with or without his permission.

Poe hummed, patting his back and snagging the almost empty dish. "Okay, Finno. Let's get you to bed. We can store this...somewhere I'm not telling any of you lot!" he said, and they laughed.

Rey stood and helped Finn to stand. "Don't hate me, but I'm making you get in the refresher before you get in our bed," she said, kissing his cheek.

"I won't hate you—but Poe might," Finn said with a wide smile. Then again, it wasn't like Poe was shy about following either of them into the refresher. Neither was Rey, for that matter. "Wait, is this just some elaborate plan to get me drunk and take advantage of me?" Finn asked when they'd taken several steps away from the table.

"Use protection!" Snap called from back at the table, followed by a yelp as someone (Jess, probably) silenced him.

"Oh, yeah, wouldn't want your Commander to end up pregnant," Poe laughed, as Rey and Finn dragged him off, the flan tucked safely close. "Who did you want this to get to, again, Finno?" he asked, holding the dish up. "Or were you really saving it for you?"

"I thought we should save some for the General and Luke and Connix," Finn said, "If we can keep everyone away from it for long enough. It was really good flan." He was half-tempted to eat it himself, but...no, he had better plans than eating what was left of the flan. "I'm so tired—I might need supervising so I don't fall over and hurt myself in the ‘fresher," he said with a mock-tragic tone of voice.

Poe rolled his eyes. "Oh, like that would be such a hardship. Supervising in the fresher," he laughed, and kissed Finn. “So different from our daily routine.”

Rey was smiling at them fondly. "Hey, I'll take this to the General's Office and let her portion it out. Unless you want to take it yourself, Finn? I'll tell her you sent it and that you're resting." Finn nodded, and she hummed, looking back and forth between her boys. "Even though I'm sure that's not entirely true." She giggled.

"Come on, let's get you ready for bed. Have you all squeaky clean before she gets back," Poe said, once they were in their room, and he was already undressing Finn for a quick rinse. But Poe paused when he got Finn's shirt off, grabbed his cheeks, and kissed him. "I'm _so_ proud of you, Finn. You're amazing, and I'm not surprised at all by everything you've done but I am hella _impressed_. And I love you, buddy."

"Mmmf!" Finn answered as Poe surprised him with a kiss. "Couldn't have done any of it without you. And Rey, obviously, but you got me off that ship and into the Resistance in the first place." Finn pulled Poe to him and tipped his chin just slightly down with a cheeky "I'm taller than you," grin before kissing him.

"And I'm older than you, what's your point?" Poe asked, kissing Finn back as he wrapped his arms around his middle and lifted him to carry him into the refresher where he continued undressing him. However, Finn's kissable lips, cheeks, and ears soon became distracting. "You think it counts if I just lick you clean?" he wondered, mouth wandering down to suck a bruise on his neck.

Finn huffed softly and leaned against Poe. "Might not," he said, "But feel free to try." He could tell that it was going to take only the slightest effort for Poe to reduce him to putty—and he was going to love every second of it, even if (especially if) Poe decided to be a complete tease.

Well, he had offered, Poe decided he could say when Rey inevitably found them in a compromising position. This had become something of a joke, actually: Rey walking in on them or being there when things got heated—she pretending to be scandalized, they pretending to be embarrassed; she blushing as she joined in like she had never seen or done this before, Finn awkward and Poe over-the-top seductive, or vice-versa. After this playful little ritual was over and all parties had had a good laugh, they would shower each other with love, a traditional lovemaking fused with something almost spiritual.

Poe was so lost in thought (and kissing around Finn’s neck) that he _was_ startled when Rey stood in the doorway and said, "You know I may be just a simple desert scavenger, but I think it helps if you use water?" just when he'd gotten his lips around Finn's nipple.

"Uh—" Finn started, and then grinned brightly. "Did they like the flan?" he asked, rather than saying anything about the lack of water currently running in the refresher. He was a little out of breath, which was _completely fair_ when Poe had just been attempting to reduce him to nothing more than a melted puddle of Finn.

Rey grinned. "I'm pretty sure the General 'requisitioned' or 'commandeered' or some military-termed the whole thing so...yeah." She laughed and tore her clothes off to join them and turn the water on. Poe yelped, but Finn seemed to enjoy it, so they settled into a hug, all three of them.

"I'll finish licking your entire body in bed, then," Poe told Finn, and giggled, and Rey giggled, too.

She pressed their faces together until they were kissing three ways: it was messy but sweet. "We're so proud of you, Finn. You're so wonderful."

"I already told him," Poe said.

"Well, he deserves to hear it again!" Rey countered, and focused on Finn, cupping his chin and kissing him deeply, "You're amazing and you make us proud, Finn, love."

" _Thank you_ ," Finn breathed, and smiled softly at Rey, searching out another kiss. "I love you," he said to both of them. “I did it for you.”

“Don’t lie to us.”

Finn laughed. “Yeah, well…” They were close enough that he could put his arms around both Rey and Poe and rest his forehead to theirs, and he did so before nuzzling at Poe's neck and sucking a small mark there. Rey shook her head at both of them and ran a hand over Finn's hair and down his neck, scratching gently at his back.

"You want one? A hickey?" Poe offered her, with a wry smile. "You want two?" He could feel her nudging against his mind, and he could sense her desires in return.

Rey sucked in a small breath of surprise, but considered this, and nodded (their weird preferences really were rubbing off on her, apparently), and suddenly she had had two grown men latched onto her neck like leeches and she wanted to tell them to stop but also never stop. It was sweet, like a kiss, and then a brief bite of pain, and then—well, then they were just licking her gently, like they had choreographed this. "Okay, that's enough. As you were, soldiers," she decided, and they dutifully pulled off. "You are both very weird," Rey laughed and nuzzled at Finn's cheek. “But I liked that.” She caught Finn staring at her neck, and Poe, too, though he pulled himself together faster:

"I guess our Finn needs washing," Poe declared, already ready with a soapy sponge, and Rey was ready to keep Finn still with kisses.

Finn looked over at her and she took advantage of the situation by kissing him deeply, pressing him back against the wall of the fresher as best she could, since she was more or less next to him. "You’re also amazing. Just in case you forgot," she added as Finn whined softly and relaxed against the wall.

Poe chuckled at how Finn melted for them, and he kissed Finn and exchanged a look with Rey and kissed her. He scrubbed him clean quickly and efficiently, and Rey ran her fingernails over his arms and chest until he was boneless and limp—except for one part of him that was anything but, and both his affianced thought it was very cute. "Let's get you into bed, we'll take care of you," Poe hummed, and Rey, who was already in each of their minds, helped hurry this along until they had him dried off and tucked safely into bed.

As soon as he was snuggled into bed, Finn reached greedily for Poe and Rey, taking their hands and pulling them closer. He kissed each of them—slow, lazy kisses that teased more than they really satisfied anyone, but that was half the fun. "Mmmm, my perfect loves," he hummed, and Rey laughed.

"You're already half asleep, aren't you?" she asked him, and he grinned.

"Probably not for long," he answered, which made her roll her eyes fondly.

Poe tumbled happily on top of Finn, with Rey on top of him, taking turns kissing him to death. He reached a hand between them to stroke Finn to full hardness, fingers teasing and wicked, loving the echo of Rey's happiness from how he touched Finn—which made Poe laughed to think how glad he was to be engaged to a Jedi. How did he deserve this?

"Think you'd like me to fuck you, buddy?" Poe purred, and turned his head to nibble Rey's shoulder playfully before pulling back to let her move in, tangling their limbs closer. "Let me congratulate you properly?"

“Yeah!” Finn smiled as Rey settled with her head on his shoulder and her arm thrown across his chest. She stroked his arm as Finn blushed and looked down and only eventually managed to find his words: "And then you could—well, I want you to ride me, too." He grinned brightly to hide his shyness at asking at all, and scratched up and down Poe's arm. "And I want to watch you. Make you go nice and slow," he hummed.

Poe's eyes lit up, a matching blush resting high on his cheeks. "Whoa, uh, _yeah_!" he said, and reached for the lube, crouching between Finn's legs to slick him and stretch him. "Though I'm not sure ‘riding’ and 'slow' are words that go well together..." He winked as he found Finn's prostate, and now at least Finn didn’t want him to go slow, either.

Rey laughed, opening herself up to both of their feelings, and loving how warm and happy they both felt. She bit her lip as she watched, and then thought it would be more fun to bite Finn's lips. So she did. And it was.

Finn's eyes fluttered closed as Poe stretched him quickly, but gently enough, and Rey provided a counterpoint by alternating between nipping his lips and giving him sweet, slow kisses. He hummed and brushed against her mind, settling in the fierce warmth he found there and feeling the slightest hint of Poe's mind, too. These two were home, and comfort, and everything he loved and everything he'd run that ridiculous gauntlet of exams to protect. They were also driving him a little crazy, and he blinked his eyes open and shifted against Poe's wicked hands. What he _wanted_ was for Poe to do as he'd done the time he drew the foreplay out for so long Finn had been sure he was going to _die_ —but it seemed weird to ask, when his body was reacting in exactly the opposite direction.

"He wants you to take your time with him," Rey chirped suddenly, and laughed, and Poe laughed in return as Finn blushed.

"You like that, huh, Finno? Make you desperate and needy and not let you come?" He purred, kissing the other side of Finn's neck. Finn was kind of a slut for a good edging, and Poe hadn’t yet found his limit, which was probably something he should do. For science.

Rey narrowed her eyes. "Wait. No orgasm? I though that was the point?"

Poe kissed her. "Oh, _eventually_ I'll let him have one. No reason _I_ couldn't, though, if you just want the rush, darling."

"You make me sound like some kind of junkie!" Rey laughed, but she was slightly flustered. "I'm the one who doesn't need this, remember?"

Poe's eyes glinted. "Hm, the _physical_ stuff, maybe. But I don't think you're so aloof as you make yourself out to be." As if to prove his point, Poe crooked a finger inside Finn and wrapped a fist around his cock—and Rey's pleased hum followed right on Finn's gasp. Poe's grin was all teeth. "It makes you _happy,_ doesn't it? Feeling how happy I can make him?" It certainly did wonders for Poe.

"What no absolutely not," Rey said, deadpan, and then squeaked and giggled as Poe crooked his finger again and Finn's hips hitched and he uttered a filthy moan. She tried to reach to Poe with that feeling exactly—not the pleasure she knew was originating with Finn and Poe both, but how _happy_ it made her to just bask in it. “You—and you feel good, too,” she had to explain. “I think you enjoy being wicked and teasing him, and I can sense that, too.” It was delicious.

"I love teasing both of you darlings," Poe hummed, kissing them each in turn and focusing on stretching Finn, stroking him just enough to keep him interested. He let himself get lost in this, taking his time, trading kisses and sharing breath, making all three of them kiss each other at the same time, a muddle of lips and teeth and tongues. It mostly ended up with Rey and Poe kissing Finn, but they were glad to share him. "Love you," Poe gasped.

"Love you," Rey echoed.

Poe spent long minutes getting Finn ready—teasing them both—feeding off their pleasure and joy, blushing when Rey smiled at him and grinning when Finn had to close his eyes and gasp. "Okay, okay," Poe hummed. "I've got you, darlings. Gonna—" Poe gasped, arranging them. He slicked himself up and pressed into Finn slowly.

" _Poe_ ," Finn breathed, his voice shaking as Poe entered him. His voice was reverent, and needy, and insistent, all at once. "Poe, fuck, I need—" he added, but he wasn't sure what he needed. "Need _you_. Need you both." It was all he could think of.

"Ssssh, Finn, easy. You have us both," Rey hummed in his ear, and he remembered she could sense all of this—everything that he was feeling was probably coming off him in waves. "You're very easily overwhelmed, aren't you, love?" she asked, and he offered her a very ineffective, half-hearted glare that only made her laugh. "Can you feel him, Poe?" she said, beginning to sound a little dazed from the feedback of their Force bond. She laid a hand on the back of Poe’s head to play with the curls at the nape of his neck.

"Ohhh yeah," Poe laughed, taking a moment to get used to the feeling of Finn's body (it had really been too long since the last time he'd been able to give Finn more than a hasty blowjob or handjob before he fell asleep or had to study some more). Luckily, Poe was distracted by the overwhelming sensations of Finn's pleasure and Rey's joy, giving them both time to adjust. "It feels like flying. I can—" He paused, and then began to move, small circles with his hips, but focused on the individual sensations. "Rey's laughing at us, and laughing at herself. Finn, you're—needing, wanting—helpless only because you're letting yourself be, and it feels _so_ good knowing that." He felt something sharper on the edge of Finn's desire, too, a desire to reverse their positions, maybe, but Poe didn't press it. And in Rey he could feel himself reflected back—his need to feel their joy, his obsession with it, a drive to do everything in his power to create it, and feel like he had no other purpose in the world—better than he could have known himself without her. "Do you think you can wait for me, sweetheart? Long enough for me to pull out and ride you before I let you come?"

Finn moaned, but, "No, that’s too long," Rey insisted, and Poe couldn’t tell if that was her talking or because she was answering for a Finn who was currently tongue-tied.

"I can speak, you know," Finn grumbled, and she kissed his cheek—a sweet kiss, with no laughter.

"I know you can, but you weren't going to. I wasn't wrong, was I?" she asked. He shook his head. "You have to let me know if you want me to stop reading your mind so much," she added, and he smiled at her concern, and she smiled in return when she felt how much he loved her for caring, for making sure he knew that he could set the boundaries wherever he wanted them.

"'S okay," he told her, and reached to brush her hair back from her face. It was falling out of the buns she'd tied it back in, and he tugged the ties out the rest of the way, earning a squawk and laughter as it fell suddenly into her face. Not wanting to leave Poe out, Finn sat up just enough to brush his fingers through Poe's hair and kiss him while he tugged at the short hair near his neck.

Poe chuckled. "I’m sure we can go twice," he said. "It’s been a while, after all." He winked playfully and hummed into Finn's touch, nuzzling against the hand in his hair like a needy pet, but since Rey was doing the same thing—Gods, if her broadcasting across their bond was anything to go by, she liked her hair being touched even more than he did—he didn't feel the least bit embarrassed. "Rey, _never_ stop," he begged. "Love feeling you in me, sensing me, letting me feel—" Poe's eyes rolled back, because this was getting overwhelming, Finn with his hands in their hair, Finn so wrecked with desire and elation (and Finn feeling like he could take on the whole First Order himself, only Poe couldn't tell if that was technically Finn's thought, Rey's thought, or his), Rey gushing with happiness, at being included, at being necessary, at being _loved_ —until Poe was sure he was going to go off at any moment. "Gods, I love you two. Always, always, forever," he said, and Rey said "Forever," at the same time, and so did Finn, and Poe was over the edge and pumping his fist until Finn followed him with a strangled cry.

And then it really was like flying, weightless, and he took Rey and Finn with him, flying through all the universe at once with them, knowing nothing but freedom, and boundless joy, and them, with whole galaxies to know and love and call home as long as they were with him.

Finn lay there, basking in the feeling of edgelessness to their shared thoughts, until he'd caught his breath. Poe was stretched across him, and Rey had her head on his chest. She was stroking his arm softly and, he thought, smiling a sleepy-sweet smile at Poe. They were all too content to move, apparently, which suited him just fine at the moment.

After a few minutes of relaxing, Poe finally pulled out, kissing Finn softly.

"Want me to get a towel?" Rey asked, but Poe gave her a filthy grin.

"And deny me this?" he said, crouching over Finn's chest to lick his seed up from his belly, humming in delight. "I've got to get him nice and wet for round two, right?" he said, working his way down to take Finn’s cock in his mouth.Rey had wrinkled her nose up at Poe even as Finn chuckled at their short conversation and at the tickle of Poe licking him clean, but Finn was still too sensitive for Poe’s mouth on him just yet: “Oh, Poe, no, please, too soon,” Finn groaned, pushing him off. “I want that—just give me a minute.”

Poe chuckled as he lifted his head. “Okay, buddy. Guess I need a minute, too.”

Rey looked between the two of them. "Some things I was not meant to understand," she told them.

But then Poe sat up and kissed her, letting her taste Finn for herself—Poe’s mouth tasted like Finn smelled—and they shared the goodness of him on their tongues and in their hearts.

"Hmm…my mistake," she whispered finally, breathless, when they parted, unable to break her gaze from Poe's face which shone with love for Finn written plainly on it—as plainly as his love for her. "I think…I maybe could understand it a little." Rey blushed.

Poe rumbled low in his chest, a laugh or a told-you-so, and got his mouth on one of Finn's nipples, rolling the other between his fingers. And if he rocked his hips, sliding their cocks together, well, he wasn't made of stone.

Rey snuggled right back down next to Finn and gently turned his face toward her so she could kiss him. When they paused for breath, he was gasping a little, and—this was going too fast, and it was going to be all over again far too soon.

Taking some initiative, Finn tangled his fingers in Poe's hair and tugged a little, pulling him off of him. "Hey—slow down. Want this to last," he reminded him, and grinned: “Want to watch _you_ fall apart this time.” He huffed, and stretched and put his hands behind his head, trying to pull off smug. “And I want you to do all the work.” He felt a funny little thrill of surprise from Rey (and, he thought, a little from Poe through Rey) when she realized he had actually described what he wanted.

Poe pulled off of Finn with a wet smile and a small shiver. "Slower?" he hummed, as it was not lost on him that Finn, who so rarely expressed preference unless it was practically wrung out of him, had made a request—combined with the tug to his hair, it might _almost_ be an order, which was delicious. Poe could do slow, would have to do slow to give them both time to refract, had done slow with Finn his first time and any time thereafter where he was particularly interested in wrecking him—but Poe also was suddenly overwhelmed with desire to get Finn inside him as quickly as possible. "I _can_ do slow," he said, and that was fine, but as a rule, he did _not_ do slow very well when he was bottoming. “You want me to take myself apart on you, huh?” he said, his smile shy and a blush creeping up on his cheeks.

"I think Poe would like it better if you _ordered_ him to go slow," Rey whispered to Finn as she kissed his temple, but Poe frowned, sitting up.

" _Hey_." Poe sat up. That was a little too close for comfort, actually, but Rey seemed to recognize it and eased back from where she had nestled in the deeper, darker corners of Poe’s mind. " _I'm_ not the one who's shy about voicing my preferences, so if you're trying to kinkshame _me_ , it won't work." He kept his voice light and teasing, grin playful, but he sat back further (and who was he kidding, there were entire subsets of kinks he had that he was still ashamed to admit to his affianced, but he wasn’t going to bring them up now).

Rey reached for him, apologetic. "Okay, then what if I tell you to slow down and take yourself apart on him because _I_ want you to?" she said, a hand fisting in his hair. “ _You_ like that, don’t you?”

"Maaaaybe,” Poe said, but his blush gave him away. “You're lucky you've got me by the hair when you make such demands, that’s my weakness," he teased in reply. "But seriously, I haven't had my mouth on either of you in fifteen seconds, how much slower _is_ there?”

"Oh, a whole fifteen seconds..." Rey said, mock aghast, but she let go of her grip on his hair. Finn rolled his eyes fondly at both of them—at least until Poe ducked his head and swallowed his cock again. Finn thought maybe Rey would settle down and resume cuddling up next to him, but instead she watched Poe curiously for several long minutes, glancing occasionally over at Finn when he made pleased little noises. Eventually he raised his eyebrows at her in question. "Sorry. I _know_ you like what Poe is doing, but how is it not…gross?" she asked them.

"Oh it's—definitely filthy,” he said, breath hitching. “But don't knock it til you've tried it," Finn answered. Poe had paused, and they grinned at each other. "Keep going, please," he said.

Poe chuckled, eyes beginning to shine with lust. "If that's your ‘commanding officer’ voice, I think it's my duty to tell you it needs work," he said, his voice rough as he began nibbling at Finn's thighs and hips, not giving him what he wanted. If Finn was frustrated, he didn't show it (though he did whimper softly), but Rey's eyes sharpened.

"Hey, go back. That felt good. To me." But she was drawing on both of their pleasures, now, and something made Poe very happy about teasing, which balanced out how bereft Finn now felt. "Fine, it's not weird. Maybe."

Poe tossed hair out of his face, laughing loudly. "Look who's impatient now?" he hummed, and she reached across to pinch his arm in retaliation. He sat up again and slid back. "Maybe I could massage his legs, or feet? That'll feel good, right?" _This_ was fun, teasing and denying them like this, but Poe knew and accepted that he was a little bit evil.

"You know what happens when you touch my feet," Finn warned Poe. When he'd said slow, he hadn't meant quite this slow, or rather he’d hoped to render _Poe_ desperate because of it, but Finn loved it even if it was currently frustrating him instead. "Maybe you should massage anywhere _but_ my feet," he suggested, this time somewhat stronger than his previous request.

Poe laughed and then yelped as Finn's foot twitched. "Oh no, that's right, I like my teeth _in_ my face, yes," he said, and instead tried scratching Finn's thighs and the backs of his calves. "How about that, sweethearts?" He hummed. "You're gonna have to be more specific about where you'd like a massage, Finno," he said with a wink.

"Uh..." Finn said, shivering as Poe's fingernails raked up and down his legs. He wanted to ride this feeling forever, wanting more and knowing he could have it anytime he wanted to ask for it, but making it last in the meantime. "Maybe—legs, and... My shoulders and back are really sore from sitting too much," he added. Two could play at this game.  

Rey laughed softly at him and kissed him, stroking his arm gently. "You don't _feel_ like you want to go slow anymore," she said to him, and he heard Poe laugh.

"I really _do_ because it’s amazing at the end," he whined. He wasn't prepared for this at all—having to remember he wanted to go slow even when his body was practically screaming to go faster because they hadn’t done anything even remotely this sexy since before he started the exams. He took a few careful breaths. A bit of a break wouldn’t kill him.

Poe chuckled. "Maybe roll over so I can massage your back? Rey can help."

Finn smiled with a sudden idea. “I want to watch you touch yourself, first. No fair you get to tease me and you’re not even half-hard yet.”

Poe sucked in a breath, briefly dazed, and then laughed. “You don’t think me touching you will be enough for me?”

“Oh, I'm sure it will. But I want you to be twice as desperate as you’ve got me. Rey will like that, too, won’t you, love?” Finn wondered, running his fingers through her hair, and beginning to get into this. “We can watch him touch himself, the way he does me…”

“I'm not _that_ flexible,” Poe chuckled, face heating as he took himself in hand, still lube slicked, and stroked himself quickly and efficiently. He could feel Rey’s and Finn’s eyes on him, making him squirm.

“You feel warm,” Rey whispered, cuddling with Finn comfortably as she watched Poe’s fingers dance across his own skin with practiced skill, until he was gasping. “Are you embarrassed?”

“Me? No. Maybe,” Poe stammered, not sure how he felt about this, but hissing now as he reached the point where he just wanted to go faster and screw the plan, he could ride Finn with a limp dick just as well as with—

“Okay, now you can stop,” Finn said, looking really kriffing smug and so pleased with himself that Rey had to kiss him.

Poe whimpered, gripping the base of his cock so that smug grin wouldn’t send him over the edge.

“What was that, Poe?” Finn teased. “Oh, that’s right, time for my massage.” He grinned and moved into position, as Poe grunted helplessly.

"Wait, what are we doing?" Rey asked, as Finn rolled so he was lying on his stomach, adjusting himself gingerly.

Poe grunted but pulled himself together. "Massaging him. I guess we haven’t done this before. Gods, have I not done this to you yet? I’m an awful fiancé. Here. Just touching him, rubbing the tension out of his shoulders. You’ll be next."

Rey watched as he started with Finn's neck, easing into rubbing and pressing on his muscles, working down his shoulders. "Can I help?"

"Sure!" Poe said. "Shoulders are easy. Just rub hard, like you're working out a muscle that—" But Finn yelped and arched up. "Okay maybe not that hard. I forget how strong you are." Poe laughed, kissing her cheek.

"How is this part of sex?" Rey wondered.

"It’s not. Or it doesn't have to be," Poe said with a shrug. "But this time it is, because I’m riding him whether or not he falls asleep on us," he chuckled. Rey liked how their desperation simmered just below the surface of their thoughts, and how letting it linger made it better, like letting flavors meld.

Finn grumbled, but Rey had found a knot and was working on it with serious determination while Poe rubbed his neck a little more gently. He was afraid they'd stop if he got too grumbly, so he settled for a long sigh. Rey eventually sat back and let Poe finish rubbing Finn's back, and he certainly did _not_ almost fall asleep, thank you (it was just they felt and smelled so good, he couldn’t help it if this kind of pleasure made him sleepy!). Finn opened his eyes when Poe stopped touching him and said, "Your turn,” before the mattress dipped next to him as Rey settled on her belly—sort of.

"You're missing the point," Finn hummed as she scrunched up next to him, perfect for cuddling but not for massaging. He poked her in the ribs until she moved over to lay flat, then raised his head to grin at Poe, because he was happy and Rey was _cute_ when she was snuggly and he wanted to grab both of them and hug them half to death—but that could wait. He could wait.

Poe _had_ to stop and stare, because "Mm, has anyone ever seen two more perfect asses in the history of the world lying side by side?" They just wouldn’t let his erection die and his heart was probably going to give out from this. And they were perfect asses, balanced and toned and muscled, complete with adorable and awkward tan lines. Finn was irritatingly, perfectly hairless, and Rey was covered in fine, blonde hair. Rey had put on some weight since he had first met her, and it had gathered into a cute bubble butt that—okay, he had to focus on above the waist or he wasn't going to get far.

Poe slung a leg over Rey's hips and started massaging her shoulders and neck, gently before working into the knots. "Gods, you make massaging Finn feel like massaging a puppy. I'm mandating regular massages from your fiancés, Rey. You're all bone and knots." He kissed the back of her neck as he worked lower. "How's that feel, love?"

Rey was so lost in the sensations she barely heard him, making soft grunts and groans as he reduced her to a puddle. "Don't stop." She was broadcasting her enjoyment so much, Poe didn’t think he ever _could_ stop except once or twice to grab his cock, to make sure he didn’t go off early.

Finn liked the view where he was from, the relaxed, sort of dazed look on Rey's face, and Poe's beautiful hands seeking out and relaxing knotted muscles. "She's going to fall asleep," Finn warned Poe, and Rey cracked open an eye to glare at him before Poe found another knot. She made a soft noise that was as much a moan as a pleased whimper. Finn hadn't really ever heard her make those particular sounds, and he found himself blushing just a little as he realized that Rey could probably hear the not-entirely-innocent thoughts he was having while she was making those noises. He shifted against the sheets.

"Stop worrying," she mumbled at him, and he snorted softly.

"Can it be my turn again?" he asked both of them, rolling back onto his back, his erection now obvious.

Poe nodded and bent down to kiss the back of Rey's neck and nuzzle her hair, making her sigh. "Share?" he whispered.

Rey caught Finn's eyes, then, and through her Poe saw Finn's desires, and they were enough to make him leak against Rey's thigh—

Poe and Rey both on top of him, their kisses drowning him, Poe's hands everywhere; Rey lying beneath him, cradling him while Poe rides him, torturously slow, Finn's hands leaving bruises on his hips; and, a little deeper, there was one where Finn didn't trust Poe to go slow enough and, with Rey's help, reversed their positions, wringing pleasure out of him at his own pace and reducing _Poe_ to helpless whimpers because this was his big day and he _deserved_ it, damn it—

"Kriff, Finn," Poe gasped, shaking his head to clear it because maybe he wasn't going to be able to stand making either of them as desperate as Finn wanted, after all, because that took time and Poe wanted to get himself off on Finn’s cock _yesterday_. His body was thrumming with need and he felt suddenly woefully empty. "Rey," he added, sounding a little more lost this time, his kisses growing sloppy as he used more teeth on the back of her neck.

"No biting unless I get to bite back," Rey giggled, suddenly up on her elbows, sensing Poe's sudden urgency, and blowing hair adorably out of her face as she tried to turn around to see him.

Poe let Rey wriggle out from under him and he boarded Finn again, lying chest to chest so when he spoke his chest rattled against Finn's. "Want to hear you _beg_ me, honey," he purred.

"You're going to make _me_ beg?" Finn asked, a little indignant. He shifted his hips and then snorted in frustration. "After a very trying six weeks? Come _on_ , that's not fair." Rey giggled where she sat on her knees next to them and he looked back over Poe’s shoulder at her with narrowed eyes. She just smiled, giving him no help whatsoever, and he dropped his head back to the bed with a disgruntled grumble. When Poe still didn't move so much as a muscle, Finn rocked his hips again and still got no satisfaction out of it. "Maker, Poe, would you just get on with it?" he demanded finally.

Poe grinned, smacking a kiss to his cheek, and he got up on hands and knees to allow Finn to move. "Then sit up a bit, darling. Last time I ask you to move tonight," he promised, smiling beatifically down at Finn. "Rey, g-get behind him—like—"

"Oh! Yeah!" she said, recognizing the position from Finn's mind, and if he was too shy to be vocal about his desires, at least there was no question that he had an _imagination_. She helped Finn sit up and slid in behind him, leaning back against the headboard, her knees on either side of Finn. Poe helped her get comfortable by stuffing pillows behind her head.

"Beautiful," he hummed, reaching for the lube and working himself open—quickly, barely enough, wanting to be tight for Finn—and, okay, wanting it to stretch and ache _for himself_ —and he didn't even care if Rey knew how much he wanted it to hurt a little. He slicked Finn's cock up with his other hand, and leaned in to kiss Rey, who was rubbing Finn's shoulders.

Finn blushed when he realized that both Rey and Poe knew exactly what he wanted because they'd _seen_ it in his head. But he couldn't deny that it was exactly what he wanted—Rey rubbing his shoulders and holding him, and Poe touching him everywhere and finally, finally giving him something of what he wanted. Not enough, not yet, but that was also what he wanted. "Keep doing that. All of—that," he told them both breathlessly.

Poe and Rey huffed into each other's lips. "Does that count as begging?" Poe wondered. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, _I’m_ really not going to last long.” He drew back slowly, crouched over Finn, grasping him and lining them up. "Now you—" but Finn's hips shifted up to meet him as Poe slid down, and, " _kriff_!" he gasped, eyes rolling back in bliss and just a little bite of pain. "Fuck, Finn. Rey, are you—?" he grunted, opening up to her as he opened up to Finn. Oh, the stretch was glorious. It felt so good and it was too much but it felt good and this was supposed to be for Finn but Poe was absolutely _lost_ in it for the moment, eyes screwed shut and unmoving.

"Yes, I'm here, Poe," she whispered, kissing Finn's brow and sharing Poe's feelings with him. He felt _so_ good, and next time she was going to insist this part happen slower. Poe looked beautiful like this, she thought, wanton and wanting and shivering on top of Finn, and Finn, gorgeous and writhing between them. "Put your hands on him, love," she whispered to Finn.

Poe felt so good, his shaky desire and desperate pleasure echoing back through Rey and somehow magnified by how deliriously, breathlessly happy it made them all to be just like this, to be together in the most intimate sense of the word. Finn was glad Rey could still manage words, because he could not. He did, however, understand what Rey was telling him to do, and he gently took Poe's hands, interlacing their fingers as he rolled his hips just slightly.

"Guh—fuck, Finn," Poe gasped, eyes screwing shut at that little number with his hips—Finn was distressingly good at this, it should be _impossible_ —and realizing too late that Finn had grasped his hands. Poe's eyes lit up. Only Finn would do something so sweet like reaching for his _hands_ while Poe was riding him like some sort of space cowboy. A normal person would put their hands on Poe's hips, or, you know, his leaking cock, and it wasn't like Finn was still nervous about that (Poe _knew_ how wicked Finn's hands could be when he wanted), but he had gone the sugary sweet route by holding his _hands_. "Gods, I love you. I love you both," Poe moaned, leaning in to kiss Finn and then Rey before he settled back (he wasn't going to enjoy sitting tomorrow) and got into a proper rhythm, gasping when he sat on his prostate. "Kriff. Holy mother of meteors," he moaned, throwing his head back and actually whimpering. He tugged at Finn's hands, suddenly needing to touch his cock, wanting _Finn_ to touch his cock, but Rey grabbed Finn’s hands.

"No," she told them both. Poe was beautiful like this, bare and without bravado, bleeding his pleasure into her, and she wanted this to last. He was trying to rush things again, but the longer he lasted, the more they got to watch him take himself apart—and that was something beautiful to see. “Don’t let him go.”

"Hey," Finn complained, because her hands over his prevented him from letting go and giving Poe what he wanted. But then they were all struck, through the bond between them, by a stab of pleasure that was totally involuntary—Poe at his hands being held down by his much stronger fiancé and fiancée, Rey at holding them both in her arms and having them under her control, and Finn was absolutely floored by the rush he got from being in charge and under someone else’s power at the same time.

"Just—don’t let him go," she told him, and released his and Poe's hands so they could resume what they were doing.

Finn took a steadying breath—going slow was a lot harder than he'd expected, but he was enjoying turning the tables on Poe, who now seemed to want it faster the more Finn tried to make him slow down.

In spite of his brain being overloaded with lust and joy and bliss, Poe managed to laugh at the exchange. "It's—funny when you think she's not in charge," he managed, and then Finn rolled his hips in retaliation and Poe's hips jerked forward into nothing. Shit. Gods. Kriff. This was too much. His thighs were screaming at him, but he was so close, he was practically _there_ , he just needed a hand on his cock and he could—he would— "Finn, fuck, are you there yet?" He wasn't sure how much longer he or his legs were going to last, but then he must have done something right, because Finn shouted and bucked up, yanking down on Poe’s arms (probably on accident) so he could slam up into him as he spent, and _yes_ , that did it, because it was just on this side of rough enough that Poe screamed and came hard between them.

Rey caught Poe as he collapsed forward, and she was petting his hair and Finn's hair, and _oh_ her boys felt so good like this—so happy and quiet and at peace. It was hard for any of them to be entirely at peace, but this helped, if only because it tired them out, so. "That's my boys," she whispered, kissing Finn and rubbing Poe's neck and Finn's arms (they still hadn't let go of each other's hands). "So good." It was overwhelming, being all connected like this, love and ecstasy running through them like a conduit. "I love—" she began, but all three jumped at a muffled banging on the far wall.

"Could you keep it down in there?! Kriff! The walls aren't soundproof, you know!"

Poe stifled a laugh and lifted his head. "Shit, was that _Connix_?" Poe tried to draw a map of the personnel quarters in his mind, decided it was one of the offices and not sleeping quarters, but he was too blissed-out to really care, and he let his eyes drift shut. 

"I hope she's not grading your exams right now," Rey giggled, before covering her mouth to get her laughter under control.

Finn's eyes went wide and he mumbled a soft "Oh no," before he, too, started laughing. "Maybe she'll let us all pretend that never happened," he said, though he was already planning on apologizing next time he saw her. She'd probably just get flustered and wave him off like she did with Poe when he was being outrageous, but still... Regardless, that was a worry for later. Right now, he had his loves to snuggle with, and nothing to do but feel their presences. "Mmmm, I love you two. So much. I _missed_ you," he told them, reveling in their company and their comfortable, familiar presence.

"We missed you, too, hon," Poe mumbled, laying down in the mess between them and just not caring. "Not crushing you, are we, Rey?"

"Well, actually..."

"Good, then, sleep well," Poe hummed deliberately, and closed his eyes with a wicked chuckle. Rey whacked his shoulder until he finally rolled off and Rey attacked them with a wet washcloth until they were clean to her satisfaction. Then Rey and Poe each curled on their respective sides of their Finn sandwich.

Finn snuggled down, scrunching around Rey until she sighed pointedly at him. He stopped and grinned angelically at her as she pressed her forehead to his chest and threw an arm over his side to rest on Poe's hip. Poe was warm behind him, and comfortable, and Finn could feel his breath on the back of his neck. He sighed happily and closed his eyes to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Poe woke to an annoying beep from BB-8, though at a comfortably low volume that, the droid knew probably better than anyone, would wake him but not Rey or Finn.

[We have a mission, Friend-Poe! It is Priority One, the General needs to see you right away!]

Poe was up, his legs swung over the side of the bed. Ouch. _Oh_ , he was sore, deliciously sore. He rubbed his face. "But, Bee, it's our first proper free day since Finn's—oh, never mind," he muttered, and flailed for his datapad. "Give me five, buddy," he said, and hastily typed the following:

_"Beloveds,_

_"Called away on a top priorit y mission. Sorry. Shouldn't be dangerous. Will contact/sendETA when/if I can. If I can't, grill the General, she'll cave. Real sleepy. Loved last night. Gonna miss today. Big kisses. Proud of you, Finno. Rey, take care of him for me, and yourself. Lvoe you, sweetnesses. Be good. Or record it if you're naughty. ;)_

_"Your fiance, always and ardently (and awesomely),_

_“Poe."_

He dressed quickly and hurriedly, grabbed a protein ration and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Luckily, there was caf in the General's office.

"Sorry," they both said at the same time.

"This is time sensitive, Poe. Otherwise I wouldn't have called you here. An intelligence run. We need you to intercept what we think will be a very important sublight transmission, possibly concerning a new First Order weapon." The General looked as put together and un-tired as ever, like she didn't need sleep.

Poe clutched at his coffee weakly. "Another one?"

Her mouth became a thin line.

"Okay, dumb question. Sounds doable. How long will I be gone?"

"It's nine hours at _Black One_ 's lightspeed." She handed him a datapad.

Poe grinned, finally feeling awake. "Consider it done. I'll be home by midnight. Tell Rey and Finn when I'll be back?"

"Of course." Leia smiled, squeezed his hand, and they were gone. He fed the stats to BB-8 as they made their way to _Black One_ , already being prepped.

"Glad to be in the air again, Commander?" Divo asked, fueling him up.

"Always. Though I was looking forward to a day off."

"Just stay out of supply closets, sir," Divo said, with a completely straight face. "Here's your helmet, sir," he added hastily, perhaps fearing he had overstepped his bounds. 

Poe laughed, and was up in the cockpit (it _definitely_ hurt to sit down, but he liked it as a constant reminder of Finn and Rey) and away, all the sooner to return.

...

Rey woke to her stomach gurgling. Even though now she had access to reliable food sources, she still couldn't shake her focus on food, and wanted something to eat immediately. "Finn, wake up. It's time for br—Poe?" She sat up, but the washroom was dark, and Poe was gone, the datapad resting on his pillow. She wished he'd stop doing that!

"Huh?" Finn asked, rolling over to face Rey before he realized there was no one on the other side. "Where's he?" he asked, and pulled Rey back to him for a hug and a good-morning-I-love-you kiss. She smiled at his sleepy show of affection.

"Some mission, I guess. He says to ask the General." She got up, ignoring Finn's reaching arms except to give him a kiss on the forehead and drop a pillow in his face. He made a muffled squawking noise. "Can we eat first? I'm starving!" Rey said as soon as she was sure he wasn't going to just fall back to sleep.

Finn grumbled as Rey crawled over him and out of bed. She read through Poe's note again, adorably misspelled (timestamped 0523, which explained it) and passed it off to Finn to read, too, as she got dressed. She fiddled with the ring on her finger and got her locket down from the nail where it hung for bed. "Well, come on! Time for breakfast! I hope it's pancake day!" Rey cried, tugging the covers all the way off Finn.

"Pancakes?" Finn asked, having not heard anything except that one word, preoccupied as he was with reading the note and getting dressed. His own locket was in a heap on the bedside table; he grabbed it and put it over his head after he was dressed. Rey was waiting semi-patiently for him, but once she realized he was ready to go she bounded out the door, leaving Finn to scramble after her.

"Well, pancakes would be ideal, but I'm just really hungry," Rey said, taking Finn's hand and skipping toward the mess hall. Nothing woke Rey up like the prospect of the joy of breakfast. She beamed at Finn, thinking again how lucky she was to have him in her life. "So, how should we spend your first day of freedo— _oh no_!"

Rey suddenly yanked Finn forward, running toward the mess hall. The doors were shut and locked, and there was a notice on the door, and boxes of rations sat in front. "Closed for cleaning?!" she cried. "What, all day? Are they expecting us to starve?!"

"I think we're supposed to eat protein rations..." Finn said, reaching hesitantly for a few. He really didn't want to eat them. "I've eaten way too many of those in my life. Like...over twenty years worth."

Rey made a face, but she tried one anyway. Well, it was edible. She could eat anything—had eaten anything—but she was no longer a starving scavenger, and if she didn't have to eat badly, she wouldn't! She'd done her time, after all, and so had Finn.

"I bet we could make something better than this," she suggested. "Where does Poe get ingredients? Maybe we could mix something together and...cook it somehow. On a hot engine, maybe!" She really wanted pancakes, apparently.

Finn thought for a moment, but couldn't think where Poe got the ingredients to cook. The mess, maybe. Or he had some stashed in their room, or the suite they always invaded just _had_ ingredients. "What if we tried asking the people who actually _make_ the food?" he asked, because this seemed the easiest thing to try first.

Rey was already eyeing a grating overhead. "Or we could sneak into the kitchens through the ventilation shaft!" she suggested brightly. But Finn frowned at that, and she kicked her boot against the floor. "Or we could _talk_ to people, I guess." That sounded boring, but this was Finn's day. "How do we find them? Do you know their names? We could find them in the barracks, maybe?"

"They're probably...in the mess? Cleaning?" Finn asked, nodding down the hall to the door that went to the food prep area rather than the seating area. "And if they're not, I'm sure they won't mind if we borrow just a little bit of—what do you need to make pancakes?"

"Umm." Rey thought back at the cake they had baked with Poe. Surely pancakes and cakes had similar batters? "Flour, eggs, sugar. Um. Butter?" She checked the door. "Oh, it's open! Should we go inside? You go first!" She scampered around behind him and pushing Finn forward.

Finn was almost as good at talking to people as Poe was, Rey thought, except that Finn did it by being lost and cute. He helped the cleaners unclog a sticky drain, and after that they showed him to the larders. One of them hinted at something called baking soda, which she said would be helpful for pancakes.

Rey grinned and put a little of most everything she could see into a crate. "While I admit it wasn't as fun as sneaking through the air ducts could have been, that was easy."

"I don't think we need raisins for pancakes," Finn told Rey as she added them to the crate, along with several other extraneous things, like vegetables, and cheese.

"But what if we do?" she asked. Or what if they needed something to eat while they were cooking? And raisins would keep, she knew. They had some on board the Falcon with some other preserved food that she insisted on keeping there.

"Okay but the sooner we grab what we need and get going, the sooner we'll have pancakes," Finn answered. Rey looked indecisive for a moment before grabbing one other thing—flakes of cheap chocolate only good for baking—and hefting the crate. "Okay, now somewhere to cook!" Finn announced, and they left the kitchen with their supplies, calling one last thank you to the staff there.

Rey beamed. "Well, I was thinking. We need a flat surface to make pancakes on, right?"

"Right," Finn answered slowly.

"And there's that A-Wing that is always overheating..." she grinned manically.

Finn's eyes lit up, and his grin matched Rey's. "And if we make a mess, it'll be easy to clean!" he added, and led the way to the A-Wing in question. They were pulling things out of their crate when Divo walked by. He waved a greeting on the way by and then backtracked.

"Whatever you're doing, no. Just...no. I don't want to know, but it's not happening here," he said after taking in the crate of baking supplies. “Don’t make me call the chief.”

Rey pouted, but she wasn't as cute as Finn, she guessed, so it didn't work.

"What are you trying to...do?"

"Make pancakes!" Rey nearly sobbed.

"Uhh, okay. How about a camping stove? And a big frying pan? You might ask...Supply?"

Rey jumped up. "Oh! Hey! Good idea! Let's go, Finn."

"Thanks, Divo," Finn said as Rey picked up the crate and looked at him impatiently. They went to Supply, and Finn didn't even have to pout to get a camp stove and a pan. He set them in the crate on top of the food and nudged Rey back toward their room.

Rey was no fool, and didn't want to cook in a messy room, so they took the opportunity of Poe's absence to give their room a thorough clean and organization. Finn like things orderly, and Rey liked knowing where her things were, and neither of them liked their domicile being dirty all that much, so when they were done scrubbing the floors and every surface, they were ravenous, and ate raisins by the handful to sate their hunger.

"Okay," Rey said, staring at their box of food. "Um, how about I get the stove set up, and you get a batter made?" she suggested, hoping Finn had paid more attention to the cake recipe, or could tell by tasting what was in them, while she got the easier mechanical task.

"Sure," Finn answered, because he could totally Do This. How hard could it be? He started with the floor and added sugar and a couple cups of the egg substitute that the kitchens used. Since the batter was still too thick, he added some water and some dehydrated milk. But when he tried to mix it, the flour sort of exploded in a poof, going everywhere.

Rey tinkered with the stove, getting it turned on and the pan hot, but laughed when flour went everywhere. "Oh no! Finn!" she giggled, for he was covered in the stuff. "It's okay. We can work with this!" She crawled over and peered at the batter. "I think slow? Poe said slow. Folding? Do we have to fold?" She remembered that that technique had looked hard. "Maybe it needs more...liquid? Does it taste good?" She stuck her finger in the batter and brought it to her lips.

"If we add more liquid it'll be thin enough to drink," Finn replied, and looked at Rey for her verdict about the taste. "How is it?" he asked, and does a finger into the batter to taste it himself.

"Um, well, it's not very sweet." She frowned. "But it's not quite a cake. Oh! Did we grab syrup?" she asked, rummaging through the crate before unearthing a jar full of brown liquid. She tasted this, too. "Yes, good. Something sweet, anyway. So I think it's fine. And the pan is hot, so let's try pouring some out."

They did this, though it left a mess down the side of the bowl. "Hm. I think we'll need to clean up again afterwards," she concluded, wishing she had thought ahead to lay a sheet out beneath them.

"Yeah we—oh, kriff no, wait, what is it doing? Make it stop!" Finn yelped as the batter started smoking and bubbling. He tried to scrape the pancake off the pan so it would stop burning, but it was hopelessly stuck. "STOP BURNING," he told it, but as it was an inanimate object, it did not follow directions. "Do something, Rey!" he said urgently.

"Why is it sticking?" Rey cried, turning off the heat. "It's not supposed to do that!" It definitely smelled like smoke in here, but before she could open the door, an urgent alarm began to go off. Rey darted to the door and opened it to let out the smoke, though the vents took care of things quickly as the smoke died down. She almost thought they would get away with it when a small brigade of large droids (filled with water, she soon realized), wheeled over.

And _that_ would have been something to explain to Poe, why their entire room was drenched, his quetarra ruined, all of their electronics destroyed, BB-8's charging port shorted out—in addition to everything smelling like smoke—when a new bleeping interrupted the scene:

[A false alarm, you fuckwits, can't you see it's just smoke?] R2-D2 told the fire brigade, and Rey had never been so glad to hear him. [These organics may be a special kind of special, but they're not going to burn the kriffing base down. Move a-fucking-long.] The droids retreated, looking chastised, and Rey felt a bit bad for them, for they were just doing their jobs.

Then R2 rounded on Rey and Finn: [What the fucking kriffing hells is all this?] he demanded, waving a probe.

Rey was used to R2 and how he spoke by now, even if it was strange how his cheerful bleeps and bloops carried such profanity. Still, he was a good droid, and she was grateful he had arrived just in time.

"We, ah, were just—we were hungry? Thank you."

[You have no fucking clue what you're doing.]

"Wait, wait, what?" Finn asked, because he hadn't understood half of what R2 was saying. “What’s he saying?”

"He's a...bit more sassy than BB-8," Rey said, barely refraining from laughing.

[BB-8 is young,] R2 commented, [and naïve.] But he didn't sound annoyed, or derisive.

"Oh. I understood that. But what was all the rest?" Finn asked the droid, who went still and seemed to gaze at him for a long moment.

[I was fucking cursing] he replied, and Rey laughed.

"He's cursing, Finn. Don't worry about it," Rey told him.

" _Really_? R2, can you teach me?" Finn asked, delighted that you could curse in binary. R2 swiveled to face him.

[Fuck yes I can teach you. If you don't burn down the entire kriffing base making...whatever the hells this is supposed to be. Spray the godsdamned pan next time.]

"Spray? Ohh, we have to grease it!" Rey realized, and slapped her forehead. "Okay, sorry, Finn. Let's try this again. R2, stop corrupting my fiancé!"

[Also, what's in that batter? You know even the fucking maintenance droids can look up a basic kriffing pancake recipe for you?] R2D2 made some loud processing sounds. [Where's your fucking datapad? I downloaded seven just now. Plug me in if you want 'em!]

"Oh!" Rey said, scrambling up to download the recipes onto their datapad. "Oh! See, Finn, we used too much flour still. _Now_ we've got this. Thanks, R2!"

Finn looked at the recipe and decided they really needed to start over. It wasn't so hard, once he had directions to follow, and soon they had pancake batter. "That tastes a lot more like the pancakes in the mess hall," he told Rey, and handed her the bowl to dip a finger in.

Rey nodded. "But better with syrup," she agreed. "Thanks, R2!"

R2 wiggled, looking pleased: [I'll stay to make sure you don't fuck this up again. Remember to grease the Maker-damned pan!]

Rey shared a secret smile with Finn, and kissed his cheek. "We could make two small pancakes to start, and then build shapes," she suggested.

[Oh, no, you kriffing don't. You'll make a mess again!] But when Rey pouted, the droid gave in easily: [Oh, whatever, try what you want. I'm sure you can't cock it up _too_ badly while I'm watching.]

Finn poured two small pancakes and sat watching them anxiously to make sure they didn't start burning. When he went to flip one, though: [Stop! Not yet, you'll ruin it. Have some fucking patience.]

Finn turned and looked at R2, afraid he was in trouble, but the droid just made a little wiggling motion again. He didn't _seem_ angry, but in Finn's experience, if someone used curse words at you (even if you couldn't understand them) they were angry, and R2 seemed to be using a _lot_ of curse words. Reading droids was even more impossible than reading people...

[Now you may flip them.] R2 seemed to have moderated his tone somewhat, and Finn turned to carefully flip the pancakes.

"How do you know?" Rey demanded, after the pancakes were carefully flipped.

[The kriffing bubbles] R2 explained patiently, and waited until they had transferred the pancakes onto plates, drowned them in syrup, and tasted them.

"Mm! R2, these are great! You're a hero!"

[All right, all right, no one likes a brown-noser] R2 said, but he sounded delighted. [Okay, I'm going now, but don't fuck it up. Ask someone, any-kriffing-body, for help if you're not sure. Not my circus, not my monkey.] R2 rolled over the ledge in the doorway and tootled at them from the hall. [Don't do anything I wouldn't do!]

Rey laughed and slid over to sit practically in Finn's lap. "Let's make enough pancakes so Poe can have some when he gets back," she suggested. "And we could try to make one with ears this time!"

"What kind of ears?" Finn asked with a smile, rearranging Rey so he could eat pancakes and also let her sit in his lap. "Hey, they're not bad," he said in surprise. He took another bite and grinned at Rey. "Nice job. We're a good team...plus R2! Why's he...the way he is, do you know?"  he asked.

Rey laughed, making a point to share her last bite of pancake with Finn in gratitude for the use of his lap. "I think...well, I suppose I knew lots of people who talk like he does on Jakku, so I don't really notice." She shrugged, and then laughed. "I asked him, once, and he completely deadpanned me and said 'I've seen some shit.'" She cackled and shook her head. "You know he was Anakin Skywalker's astromech? And before that he served the Queen of Naboo—Luke and Leia's mother. Okay. Ears now. Three pancakes all touching, liiiiiiike _this_!" she declared, pouring out the batter carefully. The ears were a bit lop-sided, but it looked quirky. "We can share this one." She leaned back to press against Finn's chest, and sighed. "Then what should we make?"

"Seen some shit may be putting it lightly," Finn said, trying to imagine what R2 must have seen. And C-3PO, too. He shook his head. "What about a flower? Or a giant pancake. I like giant pancakes." He reached over to flip the pancake with ears, then raised a hand to pet her hair softly. "Didn't you snag some chocolate shavings? I bet those would be good in the pancakes."

"Oh, yes!" Rey cried, and they experimented with nuts and fruit until they found a winning combination of all three—though there was some complication with sticking to the pan that had to be overcome. They made a giant one just for Finn with everything in it, and used up the last of the batter to make a sizeable stack.

"Okay, the grill is still warm. What else should we make? We need food for all day, after all," she pointed out, looking through the crate to see what they had. "Maybe we could make tacos, like Poe taught us? Oh! I wonder if he keeps recipes on his datapad?" she wondered, searching through his folders for a few minutes before looking up. "Or whatever you want. We don't have to spend all morning cooking!"

"Oh no, this is fun," Finn said, beaming. "I'm happy spending the whole day with you."

"Great! Me, too," Rey said, planting a kiss on Finn's nose. "I'm glad to have you back."

…

In the end, they did not spend the whole day cooking. They went down to the gym to spar for a few hours, and checked with the General when Poe was due back, so that they could make sure to have food ready and the room cleaned before he got home ("We could make him a plate of everything we made! He'll be so proud of us!").

They fried vegetables on the pan, experimenting with flavors (with varied success) and also made cheese sandwiches (many of which turned out not entirely burnt). They had a veritable pile of food when bedtime rolled around, and they decided to get ready for bed and take a nap until Poe got home, since they could keep the food reasonably warm with a small heating element, since they had returned the stove.

When Poe’s feet touched the ground he couldn’t wait to see his affianced, and therefore made quick work of a debrief and snacked on a protein ration as he and BB-8 made their silent way to bed. They found Rey and Finn adorably asleep. "Déjà vu," he said to himself, since this was just how he had left them.

Except, this morning, their room hadn't smelled like...food?

Finn hadn't meant to fall asleep, but he had, curled up nice and warm next to Rey. He woke up, though, when he heard Poe walk in. He poked Rey awake and she flailed upright with a mumble. "Calm down, it's just Poe," Finn told her, grabbing lazily at the hand that nearly connected with his face. "You're home! How'd it go?" he asked Poe.

"Fine. General seemed happy with the intel." BB-8 rolled slowly to their charging port with only a short greeting. "What did you guys do all day? Did you spend your day off _cleaning_?" Because the room looked oddly spotless. "And what'd you have for dinner? I can still smell it." Poe collapsed onto the bed to tug his boots off, and Rey and Finn clambered around him, helping strip him of his flight suit.

"Pancakes!" Rey said. "And veg and cheese sandwiches. The kitchens were closed so we made it ourselves!" Her eyes were gleaming as she got up to fetch the plate.

"Oh. Oh?" Poe said, not sure how confident he was in this, but trying not to let it show. His affianced were smart, after all, and they had an excellent teacher. How bad could it be? "Great, I'm starving!" he said, but he realized almost immediately that that was a huge mistake.

Poe looked at the plate. Stars save him, everything was burnt. There was some charred leafy green in among the vegetables, which had a strange aroma to them generally. The grilled cheese was soggy on one side and black on the other, and the pancakes (¡¿pancakes?!) had black stuff on them. His affianced were smart, but apparently, adorably, cooking unsupervised still eluded them. Which was good, Poe told himself, they couldn't be good at everything, or they wouldn't need him! Also, the poor things had lived on starvation and protein rations for most of their lives, so it would be incredibly insensitive and privileged of him to be picky about _food_ around them. They probably couldn't even tell that anything was wrong with the food, poor darlings.

And their faces were so bright and earnest and expectant as they looked up at him, waiting.

"Go on, Poe, take a bite!"

"We made all this for you!"

_All right, Dameron, time to be a hero. Flying an X-wing through half the Kessel Run to intercept vital intelligence that could save the entire Resistance was just a warmup for this moment. Happy wife, happy life. Happy husband...what rhymes with—?_

"Well, go on. Don't let it get cold!"

Poe started with the grilled cheese, making sure to speak before he could taste it. "It's great!" He said. "You've really mastered the grilled cheese." _Were there sixteen slices of cheese in here, or only fourteen?_ "Let's see, this mushroom looks—" fried properly, but flavored with something a mushroom should never be flavored with, "good," he said, after he managed to swallow with only minor difficulty (and Poe Dameron prided himself on having no trouble swallowing anything). _Help me, pancakes, you're my only hope..._ He beamed brightly at his chefs as he ate a pancake that either had egg shells or nut shells in it. "Wow, you guys, I'm impressed," Poe said, and he was. They had showed a lot of gumption, and it wasn't their fault that they had no instincts for cooking when they had lived their lives without access to real food. He wasn't lying, he was being encouraging: that was Commander Lesson One. "It's _great_. What's to drink? Tell me what else you did all day!" He might not have to eat all of it if he could distract them enough, but he dutifully picked up a vegetable that might have been a carrot in another life.

Rey was the first to crack, but as soon as she started giggling, Finn lost it too.

"Poe, love, no. Don't eat that, it's terrible," Finn said, feeling a little bad. They hadn't actually meant him to _eat_ that crap. Rey, meanwhile, was laughing hard enough to nearly fall over. Finn looked at her and raised his eyebrows in mild inquiry.

"I—Poe, your face! You're so sweet, but please stop eating that," she said, and reached for the plate while Poe was still too stunned to react. "I love you," she told him, because he'd clearly been prepared to eat the food they'd made for him even though it might have given him food poisoning.

"Here. Real food—we made it, too, but after we made that mess," Finn explained, gesturing to the bad food. Rey was wrinkling her nose at it, and if their resident food disposer on legs wouldn't even touch it, it didn't really qualify as food anymore. Finn put the good plate and a fork in front of Poe and took the opportunity to give him a kiss, too. "I love you so much," he told him earnestly.

When Poe got over the initial shock, he burst out laughing. "Thank the four moons," Poe said, and bowed his head and laughed until he teared up, so relieved that he couldn't even be mad. "I literally saw my life flash before my eyes," he said, "a life of eating shitty food and having to lie to you two about it. Rey, Finn, you can't do this to my old heart," he choked, laughing too hard to eat, though this plate looked much better and was even warm. He cackled again into one hand. "I love you. I love you both." Struggling to breathe now, Poe rested his head back and gasped. "Thank you. This looks great. Where did that fork go? You did this all yourselves?"

"Well, R2 helped," Rey admitted, fishing the fork out from where it had fallen. "Rescued us, actually, because the smoke alarm went off."

Poe's eyes grew wide, but he moaned a bit at the pancake. "These are great! Taste like my dad's pancakes!"

"We can take constructive criticism, too," Rey said. "So we do better next time. You're too sweet, you don't need to _lie_ to us!"

"You try disappointing your precious faces," Poe retorted, but considered the cheese sandwich. "I think less cheese here, but that's more a personal preference maybe. And you might have over salted the veggies, but they are still totally edible."

Rey tried one and considered his suggestions. "Okay. Next time—"

"Next time you'll find somewhere else to do this besides the bedroom!" Poe laughed. "You really could have set the place on fire and the quetarra alone is worth more than _Black One_." He kissed them each. "But looks like you had fun?"

"Once we figured out what to do, it was more fun," Finn said, and Rey nodded her agreement.

"Eating the food was the most fun," she added. Since Poe was eating, she heaved a contented sigh and half-sprawled, half-leaned on Finn. "Cooking is tiring," he said pointedly when it looked like Poe was flagging, too, merely pushing the food around on his plate rather than eating it. Finn laughed.

"Very subtle," Finn said, and turned to Poe, "You tired?" he asked him, because sometimes Poe wasn't tired, coming back from these missions (Finn had a feeling he was overloading on caf to stay awake).

Poe laughed. "Yeah, I'm a bit tired. It's late, isn't it?" He had no clue what the local time was.

Rey took his plate and covered it up to throw away in the morning. "Yeah. That's why we fell asleep!"

"Mm, I missed you." Poe kissed them as they helped him undress and get ready for bed, and they bundled him into the center of the bed for sleep. "This makes me miss you less, I suppose," he said, and laughed, their heads bouncing on his chest. He curled an arm tightly around each of them. "Ah, this is the life."

But Finn and Rey had already drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for the gap in posting, but we hope you continue to enjoy the Series (please check out the rest of Stars and Skies if you haven't yet)! Consider letting us know what you like or what we can improve in the Comments, or, heck, since we've caught ourselves up on the writing, we could even take requests! 
> 
> You can also come bother us on Tumblr at [Maeglinthebold](http://maeglinthebold.tumblr.com/) and [A-singer-of-songs](http://a-singer-of-songs.tumblr.com/).


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